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THIRD EDITION 


Copyright, 1915 
—By— 

EMIL BRAUN 



i'jrrrta of Ir^ab 
iHaktng 

unit 

Cronoma \n tljr Sab^rg 


A HANDY MANUAL OF UP-TO-DATE 
MONEY-SAVING SUGGESTIONS AND 
FORM-SHEETS FOR SMALL AND LARGE 
BAKERIES. THE RESULT OF YEARS OF 
STUDY AND PRACTICAL EXPERIMENTS 


By 

EMIL pRAUN 

(Expert and Consulting Baker) 
Correspondence School for Bakers 
Author of “Perfection in Baking,” 
“The Baker’s Book,” Vols. I and II. 


Published By 

EMIL BRAUN 

Dayton, Ohio 
1915 







©CI.A4 18498 


CONTENTS. 


Part 1. 

ELEMENTS. COMPOUNDS, ACIDS. 
CHEMICAL TERMS. 


Part 2. 

YEAST. FERMENTATION. YEAST FOODS, 
BREAD DISEASES. 


Part 3. 

FLOUR. GLUTEN. CHEMICAL and 
PRACTICAL TESTS. 

Part 4. 

DOUGH MAKING. PROPER TEMPERATURE, 
BREAD FORMULAS and STANDARDS. 


Part 5. 

HEAT. COMBUSTION. FUEL, OVENS. 


Part 6. 

MODERN BREAD MAKING. 
MACHINERY and EQUIPMENT. 

Part 7. 

SYSTEM and ECONOMY. 
SUGGESTIONS. 




INTRODUCTION. 


I T is now over fifteen years since the first edition of 
“Perfection in Baking,” my initial effort in contri¬ 
buting to the baker's library was submitted to the 
trade. The preface of that Book explained its pur¬ 
pose.' In part it read, ''It is the main object of this 
work to shozu in plain language all who are interested 
hozv to become successful in baking; the theories of 
how to put together and how to change recipes, when 
the same grades or brands of material are not at hand. 
Judgment and common sense must be displayed to 
insure success.” Well, the Book was a success and 
fourteen editions have been disposed of and there are 
thousands of bakers in the country to-day who will 
attest to having been benefited by the recipes and gen¬ 
eral hints in my first Book. 

Some years later with the introduction of modern 
machinery and improved working methods, I was 
induced to prepare another Book that would be more 
up-to-date, more progressive. The introductory words 
in that work again suggested its purpose; it read— 
“The principal purpose of this work, as indicated by 
its title The Baker’s Book’ is to become every baker’s 
Hand Book. It is not a recipe book; it is not a tech¬ 
nical book; it is not a one man’s book, but it embodies 
a whole library for any baker.” 

Now, after I proceeded with the work, I discovered 
that the material could hardly be compiled in one vol¬ 
ume ; it took Vol. I and II and then there was lots of 


Introduction 


good material left. Now it goes without saying, the 
Baker’s Book also made good. A set of Vol. I and II 
of “The Baker’s Book” can be found in the public li¬ 
braries of nearly all larger cities in America, it being 
recognized as a standard work. But as I came to real¬ 
ize the necessity or at least the advantage of a scien¬ 
tific training and understanding of the elementary 
principles or chemistry, the more I become convinced 
that there were thousands of bakers who have not the 
time or patience to study and go through whole librar¬ 
ies of technical books, besides caryring on tedious, 
time-taking experiments and observations, but who 
should be given an opportunity to learn the A. B. C.’s 
of practical science. 

Again, many bakers seem to think, that because 
their shop and business are small there is no great 
necessity for accuracy in the various operations. But 
that is a mistaken idea. Economy and System in the 
small bakery will help materially, in fact are indis- 
pensible in laying the foundations for a successful, 
larger business. And as business built up on Economy 
and System keeps on growing, the practical, progres¬ 
sive baker must keep posted on economical improve¬ 
ments on machinery and tools and must study the ways 
and means of getting baked goods of the best possible 
quality at the least possible expense. To do this, it 
does not require any extra money, only a little study 
and sacrifice of a few spare hours to get acquainted 
with the principal laws of practical chemistry. The 
“System” end is just as important and shows up the 
leaks and weak spots in working methods and manage¬ 
ment. 



Introduction 


After several years of experimenting and study, 
condensing and rewriting copy on hand, I at last have 
succeeded to present this Book as a manual of prac¬ 
tical instruction in such order in which it will be most 
useful and most likely to be retained in the memory. 

As the author, I make no pretense to literary abil¬ 
ity, but claim for this book the support of every baker 
in the land, on the ground of an earnest desire to im¬ 
part to others the knowledge which I have acquired by 
consistent work and hard study during a busy life as 
a “practical baker.” 



P. S. I have made it a special point not to mention 
any one firm or any particular brand of Material, Ma¬ 
chinery, Ovens, etc. in the text of this book. 

However, I have reserved some space for such 
leading Manufacturers and Millers with whose product 
I am personally familiar and for which I can vouch in 
every respect. 






PART 1. 


Elements, Compounds, Acids, 
Chemical Terms. 

CHEMICAL KNOWLEDGE. 

If we look at it right, every process in baking 
rests on “chemistry.” Chemistry is largely a study 
of chemical changes and a branch of natural science. 
Every young man or boy who has entered a bakeshop 
with the intentions of learning the profession of bak¬ 
ing, is really a student m chemistry, although com¬ 
paratively few are conscious of this fact, and they 
look at their routine work as a necessary evil. The 
knowledge possessed by any competent baker, being 
exact knowledge, is in the truest sense “scientific” 
knowledge, and such accumulated knowledge in all 
stages and branches of baking is really its “science.” 
The average baker hardly realizes what wonderful 
chemical changes are constantly taking place around 
him and right under his eyes and what great opportun¬ 
ities for study and experiments are at his disposal. 
Therefore every conscientious, progressive baker 
should know at least the elementary principles of 
such elements, compounds and chemical changes as 
enter into his daily work. 

The first principle (technical chemistry) is trans¬ 
mitted to the baker by such technical chemists and is 
of comparatively little use to the average baker unless 
he understands, as he is supposed to understand or 
should understand at least the secondary principles or 
{practical science) of baking- While the mechanical 
baker goes ahead with his work like a machine after 
it is started, the chemist or scientific baker before he 




2 


Part 1 


enters into any work, asks himself: ‘‘Why do these 
changes occur? What do these materials consist of?” 

All known substances are classified either as Ele¬ 
ments^ Compounds or Mixtures and we will give a 
plain, short explanation of such as are of value to the 
baker or applied by him in his daily work. 

ELEMENTS. 

Are such substances which can not by any known 
means be separated or split up into two or more 
substances. Although the chemist knows over seventy 
such elements, the majority of these are of no partic¬ 
ular value or interest to the baker. Therefore I will 
only mention the most important ones. Each element 
is designated by a symbol which is generally the first 
letter of its name, for instance O is the symbol for 
Oxygen and N for Nitrogen. 

Most of our metals are elements, such as gold, 
silver, copper, iron etc. 

Other elements are called nonmetalic or metalloids. 

These again are divided into Solids, such as Carbon 
and Sulphur and Gases like Nitrogen, Hydrogen and 
Oxygen. Others like Bromine and Mercury are 
Liquids. 

As a number of elements have the same initial 
letter, the symbol of some is made up of two letters, 
for instance C represents Carbon while the symbol 
of Chloride is Cl. The symbols of other elements are 
taken from their latin names as indkated in the 
following list: 

Symbol for Iron (Latin Ferrum) is Fe. 

Symbol for Sodium (Latin Natrium) is Na. 

Capital letters are always used for symbols or 
when two letters are used the first one is always a 
capital and no period is used after the symbol. 



Part 1 


3 


Name of Element 

Symbol 

Atomic Weight 

Calcium 

Ca 

40 

Carbon 

C 

12 

Chlorine 

Cl 

35.5 

Copper (or Cuprum) 

Cu 

63 

Hydrogen 

H 

1 

Iron (or Ferrum) 

Fe 

56 

Magnesium 

Mg 

24 

Nitrogen 

N 

14 

Oxygen 

O 

16 

Phosphorus 

P 

31 

Potassium (or Kalium) 

K 

39 

Sodium (or Natrium) 

Na 

23 

Sulphur 

s 

32 


A short explanation of the characteristics of the 
most important elements will help the baker to a 
better understanding of the chemical processes con¬ 
fronting him in his daily work. 

CALCIUM (Ca) belongs to the group of so-called 
earth metals. It is not found pure and free, but its 
compounds and salts are very numerous, such as 
Calcium Carbonate, Calcium Hydroxide, Limewater, 
Calcium Oxyde, etc. (See Compounds.) 

CARBON (C) is found in nature only in solid form, 
either as Diamonds or Graphite which are remarkably 
different from each other. Coal, Wood, Bones, Flour, 
etc. contain Carbon in a more or less impure state. 
The chemist terms this impure Carbon Amorphous 
Carbon. In fact, Carbon is a very important factor 
in the existance and growth of all plant and animal 
life. Carbon is of great importance to the baking 
industry. It forms a vast number of compounds in 
nature as well as artificially prepared. 

In the large group of bodies, sugar, starch, etc., 
called Carbohydrates which are explained later on, 
carbon is always present. Also in all albuminous sub- 



4 


Part 1 


stances or Proteins. Carbon is one of the principal 
components. (See Compounds.) 

CHARCOAL is another variety of carbon, which is 
obtained by heating wood or meat, bones, flour or other 
organic matter in enclosed vessels (without exposure 
to air) or by slowly or partially burning or charring 
them with little air. The process practically consists 
in driving off the volatile (gaseous matter) and re¬ 
taining the carbon. Wood, charcoal and coke are 
more thoroughly treated in Part 5- One of the char¬ 
acteristics of charcoal is, that it absorbs any colored 
matter from liquids when filtered through charcoal. 
Animal charcoal used to be also used to clarify or 
bleach sugar. Charcoal also absorbs foul air and 
purifies water by filtration. 

Carbon in connection with oxygen produces heat 
and Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ), the gas which is of the 
greatest importance to the baker. This is more thor¬ 
oughly explained under compounds and in Part 5 
(Combustion). 

CHLORINE (Cl). This element is never found in 
nature free, because it combines too freely with other 
elements. It is a gas with a suffocating, disagreeable 
odor which is very penetrating, as in the disinfectant 
Chloride of Lime, one of its compounds. The most 
important of these compounds for the baker is Sodium 
Chloride or common Salt. (See Compounds.) 

Chlorine dissolves readily in water, thus being called 
chlorine water. When this solution is placed in the 
sunlight, the oxygen liberates and the resulting sub¬ 
stance is Hydrochloric Acid or Muriatic Acid. 

HYDROGEN (H) in its pure state, as a gas, has no 

odor, taste or color. It is the lightest known sub¬ 
stance and is therefore used as the standard for reck¬ 
oning the density of gases and atomic weight of ele¬ 
ments and compounds. (See Atoms and Molecules.) 



Part 1 


5 


Hydrogen burns in air and in pure oxygen, but the 
pale blue flame is almost invisible, although the heat 
of burning Hydrogen is very intense. Hydrogen was 
first called inflamable air. 

Compounds of Hydrogen Hydrocarbons and Car¬ 
bo-Hydrates are of great importance to the baker and 
are more fully explained later on. 

NITROGEN (N) is also a gaseous element, has no 
taste or odor and is colorless. It constitutes about 
78 per cent of the atmosphere (by volume). It differs 
greatly from oxygen as it does not support combustion, 
neither will it burn or sustain life. It is not poisonous, 
for the air we breath, as stated above, consists nearly 
four-fifths of nitrogen (by volume). Its main func¬ 
tion is to dilute the oxygen in the air. It is an im¬ 
portant food for all plant life. It is an inert or non¬ 
active element but is found in a great many com¬ 
pounds, such as Ammonia, Nitric Acid, etc. Being 
itself non-active, it acts as a restraint to the more 
active oxygen. Nitrogen or its compounds are mem- 
tioned frequently by chemists in flour tests and in 
the bleaching of flour controversies nitrogen played a 
leading role. It is a little lighter than air and only 
slightly soluble in water. 

OXYGEN (O) is a gaseous element and more wide¬ 
ly distributed than any other known element. It is 
colorless, has no smell or taste and is slightly heavier 
than air. The most striking characteristic of oxygen 
is its chemical activity and great affinity towards some 
of the other elements, especially carbon. Oxygen is 
necessary to all forms of animal and plant life, as it 
forms one-fifth (by volume) of the air or atmosphere 
and eight-ninths (by weight) of water. The import¬ 
ance of oxygen in producing heat or sustaining fire 
is thoroughly explained in Part 5. Also in Part 2 and 
3 Oxygen is referred to quite often, especially in 
fermentation. 



6 


Part 1 


OXIDES. When oxygen combines with other ele¬ 
ments, the resulting compounds are called Oxydes. 
Oxydation means a chemical change. The rusting of 
iron and other metals, the burning of other elements, 
carbon, sulphur, etc. is principally oxydation. Decay 
is also a form of oxydation and decomposing of sugar 
into alcohol and carbon dioxide may be termed as 
oxydation. (See Fermentation.) 

Oxygen forms a part of most every manufactured 
chemical product. Its specific volume and weight is 
explained later on under Atoms and Molecules. 

PHOSPHORUS (P). This element is not found in 
a free state in nature, but its compounds (phosphates) 
are numerous. Phosphorus ignites very easily which 
makes it dangerous to handle. It is very poisonous 
and burns from it are very painful and hard to heal. 
When exposed to the air, it gives off white fumes 
and in the dark or in moist air it glows or shines, which 
you can see by rubbing the head of a match in a 
dark room. Phosporus and its compounds are very 
essential to the growth of plants and animals as it is 
called a bonemaker. Bones contain often as high as 
60 percent of calcium phosphate. 

POTASSIUM is a metal, which however, is not 
found free, but there are a great many compounds of 
this element. The mineral Mica contains a large per¬ 
centage of potassium. 

SULPHUR (S) has been known for ages. Ordinary 
sulphur of commerce is a brittle, yellow, solid sub¬ 
stance. It is insoluble in w'&ter and is also a poor heat 
conductor. Sulphur ore is mostly found in volcanic 
regions and requires purification by melting after 
which it is popularly called Brimstone. It melts very 
rapidly at about 260 degr<^es F. It ignites very easily 
and burns with a pale blue flame, the escaping vapor 
being Sulphur Dioxide (SO 2 ). 



Part 1 


7 


COMPOUNDS. 

When Elements or Substances unite or combine 
with each other, the resulting body or product is 
called a Chemical Compound. 

In Newell’s descriptive Chemistry are mentioned 
three essential characteristics of such compounds: 

1. Their components are held together by chem¬ 
ical attraction. For instance, Hydrogen and Oxygen, 
the components of water, can not be separated unless 
their attraction for each other is overcome by heat, 
electricity or some other agent. 

2. In any given chemical compound the elements 
or components are always in the same ratio or pro¬ 
portion. For instance: Pure common Salt, however 
prepared or wherever found, always contains 39.32 
percent of sodium and 60-68 percent of chlorine. Or 
as another example water always contains eight parts 
(by weight) of Oxygen and one of Hydrogen. 

3. In chemical compounds the identity of the 
components or different substances is lost. For in¬ 
stance: Copper (red metal) and Sulphur (yellow, 
solid) and the invisible gas Oxygen, are the sub¬ 
stances which make the blue colored solid Copper 
Sulphate. 

There is a distinction between Organic and Inor¬ 
ganic compounds. 

ORGANIC COMPOUNDS are generally under¬ 
stood such which have some connection with living 
organisms, animal or vegetable, or carbon compounds. 
Although their number is very large, they are com¬ 
posed of very few elements. 

Hydrocarbons for instance, found in natural gas, 
petroleum, etc., contain principally carbon and hydro¬ 
gen. Fats are also heat producing hydrocarbons. 




8 


Part 1 


Carbohydrates or vegetable compounds, such as 
starch and sugar, contain oxygen in addition to car¬ 
bon and hydrogen. Albuminoids or Proteins, which 
we find in egg albumin, gluten, gelatine, muscle, etc., 
contain generally nitrogen as well as hydrogen, car¬ 
bon and oxygen, some also contain sulphur or phos¬ 
phorus in small proportions. 

Other organic compounds are Ethers, Alcohols, 
Acids, etc. 

INORGANIC COMPOUNDS. This term is gen¬ 
erally used for mineral elements and their compounds 
or the constituents of the inanimate, lifeless portions 
of minerals of the earth. 

These terms organic and inorganic are still used 
in chemistry, but their original narrow meaning has 
been greatly broadened since it has been discovered 
that some organic compounds can be prepared from 
inorganic substances. Organic chemistry is also often 
referred to as Chemistry of Carbon Compounds. 

MIXTURES. 

These must not be confused with compounds. Un¬ 
like a compound (see above) you can mix different 
bodies in different proportions, such as sifting to¬ 
gether one sack of dark flour and one sack of white 
flour. The color then will be different from either 
one separate, but still it is only merely mixed and 
the particles of each flour stay separate, and all is 
still only flour. No actuai union or chemical change 
has taken place. Or if you sift and mix together cer¬ 
tain quantities of cream of tartar, soda and flour you 
will call it baking powder- You sift it a number of 
times to get it thoroughly mixed, but still you only 
have a mixture and each ingredient retains its own 
character as long as kept dry. 



Part 1 


9 


ACIDS 


are chemical compounds and have more ..or less sour 
or acid taste, due to the presence of hi^rogen. The 
acid content of any substance can be found out with 
blue litmus (litmus paper) which turns red in an 
acid solution. For a determination of the acid of 
flour a more definite acid test is obtained with other 
chemicals. (See Flour, Part 3.) 

Acids also have the power to decompose most of 
the carbonates like limestone, thereby liberating car¬ 
bon dioxide gas, which escapes with effervescence. 
Effervescence means this: When certain substances 
are put together or exposed to the air, a commotion 
takes place and some part of the mass or liquid flies 
off in a gaseous form, producing a lot of bubbles and 
raising up as if it was boiling. 


Most acids are soluble in water and are called 
either dilute solutions or concentrated, according to 
the strength of such solutions. Some acids are liquid, 
such as sulphuric and nitric acid, lactic and acetic 
acid; others are gases such as hydrochloric acid and 
others are solid, like tartaric acid, citric acid, etc. 

The more important acids of interest to the baker 
are: 


1 . 

2 . 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6 . 

7. 

8 . 
9. 


Name erf Acid 

Acetic Acid. 

Butyric “ . 

Citric 

Hydrochloric Acid 

Lactic 

Palmitic 

Sulphuric 

Stearic 

Tartaric 


Symbol of Formula 

C 2 H4 O 2 
. . C 4 Hs O 2 
Ce Hs O? 

... H Cl 
, , . Ca He Os 
C 16 H 32 O 2 
.. H 2 S O 4 
C18H3602 
C 4 He Oe 


ACETIC ACID is the most common organic acid. 
The commercial acetic acid is manufactured principally 
by distillation from wood and seldom contains more 













10 


Part 1 


than.'JO per cenl'. of pure acetic acid. This is known also 
as wood vinegar. The common vinegar is also a mild so¬ 
lution of acetic acid produced from a combining of 
alcohol with oxygen (oxydizing) through fermenta¬ 
tion. This transformation can be accomplished by two 
different processes, which Professor Newell quotes 
as:— 

1. When beer, weak wine or cider are exposed 
to the air, they slowly become sour owing to the con¬ 
version of alcohol into acetic acid. The change is 
caused by the presence and activity of a ferment, 
known as niycodermuce acedi or mother of vinegar. 

Strong zvines and pure dilute alcohol do not become 
sour, because the ferment cannot live in such liquids. 

2. In the “quick vinegar process” impure dilute 
alcohol is oxydized by exposing it to an excess of air. 

The formation of Acetic acid or Acetic fermenta¬ 
tion is explained in chapter on Fermentation, (Part 2). 

BUTYRIC ACID is the acid which in combination 
with capric and caproic acid gives butter that pleasant 
flavor, but if present in too great a proportion it causes 
butter to become rancid. In bread fermentation, bu¬ 
tyric acid or butyric fermentation follows closely or 
develops (only in smaller proportions) along with the 
lactic acid. (See Part 2.) 

CITRIC ACID is principally obtained from the lem¬ 
on, but can also be abstracted from various other fruits. 
It is vegetable or fruit acid. It is sometimes adulter¬ 
ated with tartaric or mineral acids. When the ques-* 
tion of a lemon flavor or tartness is to be considered, 
the preference is given to citric acid by the baker or 
confectioner, because it is stronger in acidity than 
tartaric acid. But it is little used in manufacturing 
of baking powders, because it is very susceptible to 
dampness and therefore must be kept in a dry atmos¬ 
phere and tightly sealed. 




Part 1 


11 


HYDROCHLORIC ACID is a transparent, colorless 
gas. When it escapes into moist air it forms fumes or 
vapors which have a choking, sharp, pungent odor. This 
gas does not burn, neither does it support combustion. 
It is 1.25 times heavier than air. It is soluble in water, 
and this solution is known at Muriatic Acid. This so¬ 
lution is manufactured in large quantities and is used 
extensively for bleaching purposes. 

A mixture of salt and sulphuric acid moderately 
heated produces this acid. 

LACTIC ACID is a syruplike liquid and easily de¬ 
composed by heat. Lactic acid is quite an important 
factor in bread making and it is the so called lactic 
fermentation which gives the bread that pleasant, nutty 
flavor (see Part 2). Lactic Acid is the most promi¬ 
nent acid in the total acid bodies contained in flour, 
(over 90 per cent). Therefore, in making acid tests 
of flour, the same are based on or expressed as lactic 
acid. Lactic Acid is also the cause of milk turning 
sour, being one product of the fermentation of the 
milk sugar. When sour milk is used in baking, the 
necessary carbonic gas (carbon dioxide) to raise the 
dough, is produced by adding sufficient baking-soda 
(see Alkalies) which interacts with the lactic acid 
in the sour milk. The original cause of lactic acid 
is a specie of bacteria called bacterium-lactis, which 
are always present more or less in the atmosphere. 
They are also said to be present in varying numbers 
on the surface of Malt and in yeast. 

PALMITIC ACID is one of the principal com¬ 
pounds in palm oil and also present in olive oil and 
animal fats. 

STEARIC ACID is found as a compound in nearly 
all fats, but principally in beef suet and mutton fat. 
Both of these acids are white solids- 




12 


Part 1 


SULPHURIC ACID is an oily liquid, colorless when 
pure, but as we usually see it, it has a brown color, 
due to the presence of organic matter. When you 
add water to it, a great deal of heat is evolved, and 
if this is not carefully done and slowly, the intense 
heat may cause an explosion. It is used directly or 
indirectly in a great many industries. 

TARTARIC ACID is a white crystalized solid, sol¬ 
uble in water or alcohol. It is found as potassium salt 
in grapes and some other fruits. It has a tart, sour, but 
not unpleasant taste. It is deposited during the fer¬ 
mentation of grape juice in an impure or crude state 
in the casks. When pure, it has between two and 
three times the neutralizing strength of cream of 
tartar. 

Cream of Tartar is obtained in the same way as 
tartaric acid. Its quality and purity depends greatly 
on the care taken and time allowed during the refine¬ 
ment. In the pure state it is produced in crystals, but 
the Cream of Tartar of commerce is generally sold 
in powdered form. 

Cream of tartar, like tartaric acid, interacts with 
bicarbonate of soda, neutralizing the latter, carbon- 
dioxide being produced. 

However, cream of tartar dissolves and acts slower 
than tartaric acid, and for that reason is preferred by 
the bakers. There are some substitutes on the market 
claimed to be as strong or stronger than pure cream 
of tartar, but these are produced from phosphates and 
they usually produce gas too rapidly and the power 
is exhausted before the baker can get his biscuits or 
cakes into the oven. Cream of tartar is supposed to 
neutralize half its own weight of bicarbonate of soda 
when pure. Genuine cream pi tartar is called 99 
per cent pure. Both cream of tartar and tartaric 
acid absorb moisture very readily, and should be kept 
in tightly closed cans or jars, 



Part 1 


13 


BASES or ALKALIES. 

Bases are commonly known as alkalies, which 
means any substance that will neutralize an acid. Most 
bases are solids and are usually soluble in water. Any 
substance which will turn red Litmus paper to blue, 
is understood to contain an alkali or base, or to have 
a;/, alkaline reaction Most of the stronger alkalies 
like Caustic Soda, have a slimy, soapy feeling and a 
very bitter taste. Alkalies also dissolve grease and 
fats and we use them^ especially caustic soda, in water 
solution for cleaning bread pans and greasy floors. 
All alkalies absorb moisture -and thereby lose their 
strength; therefore they should be kept air tight. 

Litmus or sometimes called Lacmus, is a peculiar 
coloring substance which is obtained from certain 
species of lower parasitic plants or fungus, called 
Lichens (Roccella tinctoria). These lichens grow 
on the rocks in certain mountainous portions of* the 
world, principally in the Alps. Litmus has the pe¬ 
culiarity of turning from its original blue color to red 
by the reaction of acids and is restored to its original 
blue color by alkalies. It is therefore used extensively 
for the purpose of determining the strength of reac¬ 
tion of various liquids. 

BICARBONATE of SODA or baking soda, as stat¬ 
ed before, is obtained through a chemical process. Com¬ 
mercial baking soda is supposed to be at least 95 per 
cent pure and is used by the baker in connection with 
an acid, usually cream of tartar as a raising substance 
for cakes and biscuits. The baker should by all means 
avoid any cheap, common soda, as good neutralization 
of the acid is very important and a bad color, reddish, 
and a bitter flavor of the baked goods may be the 
result. 

In connection with molasses for cakes or brown- 
bread or with sour milk, it may be used alone without 
an acid; when mixed in the dough, the acid in the sour 



14 


Part 1 


milk acting on the soda and the heat of the oven will 
liberate the carbonic acid gas, which makes the cake 
or bread raise very quickly. 

The manufacturers of some of the best known 
brands of baking soda sold, guarantee their soda as 
99 per cent pure, containing over 52 per cent of car¬ 
bonic acid gas, which means for each pound to create 
5 cubic feet of the gas. Baking Soda or Carbonate 
of Soda or Sodium Bicarbonate is also known as 
Saleratus, which means the salt which aerates. 

AMMONIA proper is a colorless gas, possessing a 
very pungent^ peculiar-, strong smell ; but the same 
name is used for its solution in water, although the 
chemical term for the latter is ammonium hydroxide. 
This solution is a strong alkali or caustic alkali, which 
neutralizes the strongest acids and forms salts. Am¬ 
monia is one of the most important compounds of 
nitrogen. When you heat any animal substance con¬ 
taining nitrogen, ammonia is given off. During the 
decay of any vegetable or animal matter, which con¬ 
tains nitrogen, the nitrogen combines with the hydro¬ 
gen and escapes as ammonia. A strong ammonia 
odor is noticeable near stables, and especially when 
the dung pits are emptied. Ammonia used to be ex¬ 
tracted principally from horns and hoofs of deer and 
other animals, by heating the same in closed vessels 
which is called dry distillation, the product frequently 
being termed “spirits of harts horn.” The German 
expression “Hirschhomsalz,” has the same origin. 
Ammonia and its compounds are now, however, mainly 
obtained from gas works. When soft coal is burned 
to make illuminating gas, one of the by-products is 
ammonia. Ammonia is decomposed by heat, and 
carbon dioxide is generated, which in escaping, forms 
the leavening power. 

Ammonium Carbonate is the compound used by 
the baker and often called “Volatile.” When kept 
from the air, it is a hard, semi-transparent, stonelike 



Part 1 


15 


substance, but decomposes or softens very readily in 
the air, losing some of its strong, disagreeable smell 
at the same time and gradually falling apart as a white 
powder. It is then called Bicarbonate of Ammonia. 
The baker prefers to buy the hard or “green” am¬ 
monium, as it has a stronger leavening power. Through 
exposure and evaporation it loses about half its weight 
and strength, but little in bulk and also dissolves much 
quicker in water or milk. Ammonium Carbonate is not * 
always uniform in strength and quality and therefore 
somewhat uncertain in its action and the results ob¬ 
tained are not always satisfactory. This accounts for 
the difference in lightness of different batches of cakes 
as well as the unequal smell and color, although the 
regular formula has been strictly followed. Occasion¬ 
ally you find, that cookies or biscuits in which bicar¬ 
bonate of ammonia has been used, will smell strongly 
of the ammonia when coming from the oven, or have 
a reddish color. This may be caused by an overdose 
of the ammonia which has in consequence not been 
fully neutralized by the heat of the oven, or it may 
have been of inferior quality. 

There has been some agitation condemning the 
use of Bicarbonate of Ammonia for baking purposes 
as a dangerous article and a poison. This is absurd, 
as in no book on chemistry, either caustic ammonia or 
ammonia combined with any other substance is men¬ 
tioned as a poison. The carbonate of ammonia which 
is added to your dough or mixture, leaves no residue 
whatsoever; it completely evaporates in the baking 
heat even at a lower temperature than the baking 
heat, say, 160 to 180 degrees F. 

Commercial carbonate of ammonia is composed of: 

Carconic acid.55 per cent 

Ammonia.30 per cent 

Water .15 per cent 

Both these substances are volatile, the carbonic acid 
evaporates at about 150 degrees and the ammonia at 






16 


Part 1 


170 degrees, consequently the leavening power is about 
85 per cent. Carbonate of ammonia does not melt; 
it completely evaporates. You can convince yourself 
of its purity by making the following test: 

Place a small piece of the carbonate of ammonia 
in a small evaporating dish and heat it. The ammonia 
will be gradually transformed into gas, no residue or 
• ash being left, only a strong ammonia smell is notice¬ 
able, which, however, disappears very quickly. 

LIMEWATER has a strong alkaline reaction and 
therefore turns red litmus paper blue. It is a solution 
traced back to Calcium carbonate or limestone. When 
this is super-heated or burned in kilns, the gases are 
driven off and the remaining substance is called Cal¬ 
cium Oxide, Quicklime or Caustic Lime, which eats, 
up or destroys organic matter. When exposed to suf¬ 
ficient water, it forms a white powder, called Calcium 
Hydroxide, a solution of which is the limewater sold 
in the drug store. 

The limewater, as the baker knows it, for pickling 
eggs, or to check or neutralize undesirable acids in 
dough or to soften hard water, is a solution of slacked 
lime with plenty of cold water. But, as water absorbs 
only a small percentage of lime, there will very likely 
be a sediment of lime at the bottom; pouring off the 
liquid on top, you can pour on some more cold water, 
stirring up the lime from the bottom, then after it 
has settled, you can pour off the limewater again. 
This can be repeated several times. 

SALTS. 

A SALT may be defined as the main product of the 
interaction of an acid and a base. There are, however, 
substances which have the properties of a salt regard¬ 
less of different method of formation. 



Part 1 


17 


Most SALTS are solid and soluble in water. Such 
salts in which the hydrogen atoms of the corresponding 
acid have been replaced by a metal, are known as 
normal salts. When some of the salts is not replaced 
by a metal, the resulting substance is known as an 
acid salt. 

But besides the above way, salts can also be pro¬ 
duced by the interaction of acids with oxides of some 
metal or with the metals themselves. 

A salt which has no action on litmus is called 
neutral. 

The most familiar salt is of course, our common 
table salt (sodium chloride) NaCl. Salt is found in 
sea water, rock-salt and brines. Sea water contains 
nearly four per cent of salt, and in some countries the 
sea water is evaporated by the sun and wind. Salt de¬ 
posits in England, Austria and Germany and to some 
extent in the U. S. are found in the ground and the 
salt is mined and purified. Most of the salt used in 
this country is obtained either from natural or artifi¬ 
cial brines or strong solutions of salt, made by forcing 
water into the salt deposits. 

Salt is soluble in cold or hot water, but the differ¬ 
ence in temperature of the water has little effect, as 
hot water does not melt it any faster. 100 parts by 
weight of water will dissolve about 36 parts of salt. 
Boiling water will absorb hardly four parts more. 
Salt readily draws dampness from the air, which is 
mainly due to the presence of magnesium chloride. 
Therefore it is to be recommended to the baker to 
use a refined salt, which is drier and not so easily 
affected by dampness. The effects of salt on fermen¬ 
tation, etc., is explained more thoroughly later on. 

MATTER and FORCE or ENERGY 

are two of the fundamental laws of Chemistry. 

MATTER means any substance which has weight, be 
it a solid like iron or a liquid like water or a gas like 



18 


Part 1 


air. All substances or matter are recognized and dis¬ 
tinguished by their properties. Color, odor, weight, 
taste and their solubility are familiar properties of 
matter, but the chemist also considers their behavior 
or action with heat, light and electricity, as well as 
the action of different kinds of matter upon each other. 

The properties of matter can be changed, but not 
destroyed. In some cases the change is only temporary 
as in the freezing of water or melting of iron. Such 
changes are called physical changes. But when the 
change is permanent, as in the burning of coal or the 
digestion of food, the change is called a chemical 
change. Physical and chemical changes are closely re¬ 
lated and are often inseparable. When a substance 
or several substances undergo a chemical change, it 
is called a chemical action. When such chemical ac¬ 
tion involves several substances, it is called a reaction. 

Analysis means decomposition of compounds or the 
separation of matter into its original components. 

FORCE is really ENERGY. 

Any exertion made to act on a body is force. 

The strength of a man’s arm is a force, so is the 
power of a horse to pull a wagon. The wind is also 
an invisible force, able to tear down houses and trees 
or to move ships on the water. 

Heat, light and electricity are different forms of 
energy, producing special changes. It is also possible 
to transform the different kinds of energy into each 
other. Electricity, for instance, is generated from the 
heat liberated by burning coal, and this electricity in 
turn can be transformed into light. 

Chemical energy, or a chemical attraction is an im¬ 
portant factor in all chemical changes. But although 
in such chemical changes matter or the original sub¬ 
stances are often transformed and apparently lost or 
destroyed, the total weight of the substances partici¬ 
pating in any chemical change is always the same. It 




Part 1 


19 


follows that— Matter cannot he destroyed or lost and 
no weight is lost or gained in a chemical change, 

ATOMS and MOLECULES. 

ATOM means the smallest particle into which an ele¬ 
ment can possibly be divided. The Atomic Theory as 
first proposed by John Dalton assumes: 

1. That the chemical elements consist ultimately 
of a vast number or very small, indivisible particles or 
atoms. 

2. That the atoms of the same element have the 
same weight. 

3. That atoms of different elements have different 
weights. 

4. That chemical action is union or seperation of 
the atoms of the elements. 

The chemist of to-day, assumes that atoms do not, 
as a rule exist in the uncombined state. As soon as 
atoms free themselves from one combination, they 
at once unite with some other atom or a number of 
atoms. 

MOLECULES. According to above theory we learn 
that the smallest particle of matter or of any substance 
which can exist independently or alone is not an atom, 
but a group or combination of atoms, which are known 
as molecules. If the atoms composing a molecule are 
atoms of the same element, then the molecule is a mole¬ 
cule of an element; but if the atoms of different ele¬ 
ments are combined, then the molecule is the molecule 
of a compound. For instance, the smallest possible 
particle of a drop of water is a molecule of water, 
but this insignificant little mite or molecule of water 
contains still smaller particles, namely atoms of hydro¬ 
gen and oxygen, the elements of which water consists. 
(See Elements.) 



20 


Part 1 


CHEMICAL SYMBOLS and FORMULAS. 

SYMBOLS and their signs have been explained un¬ 
der chapter of Elements and in Part 5, but the letters 
only represent single atoms of each element. For in¬ 
stance, O means just one atom of Oxygen; H one atom 
of Hydrogen, etc. If we want to indicate more than one 
atom of any element, we place the proper number be¬ 
fore the symbol, for example:— 

20 means 2 atoms of Oxygen. 

3N means 3 atoms of Nitrogen. 

However, when the atoms are to represent a com¬ 
pound, or are in chemical combination, then a small 
number is placed after and below the symbol like 
this:— 

O 2 means 2 atoms of Oxygen in combination. 

N 4 means 4 atoms of Nitrogen in combination. 

FORMULA. A chemical formula means a group of 
symbols, designed to express the composition of a com¬ 
pound. In writing a chemical formula, the symbols 
of the different atoms making up the compound are 
placed side by side. 

Therefore, the formula for water is H 2 O, which 
means that the molecule of water is composed of two 
atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen. Hydrochloric 
acid has the following formula, HCl, which tells us 
that the molecule of this acid is composed of one atom 
of hydrogen and one atom of chlorine. 

CHEMICAL EQUATIONS. When we want to 
express the different facts of chemical reactions or 
changes, the proper symbol and formulas are used, 
which is called an equation. 

Let us repeat the previous example of the formula 
of Hydorchloric acid again, which is:— 

H -f Cl = HCl. 



Part 1 . 


21 


Hydrogen (1 atom) Chlorine (1 atom) Hydro¬ 
chloric acid (1 molecule). If we want to represent 
several molecules, we set the respective number or 
figure (in large type) in front of the formula. 

Another example:— 

2H2 + 02 = 2 H 2 O. 

Hydrosen, 2 molecules Oxygen, 1 mole- Water, 2 moleculct, 
each 2 atoms. cule, 2 atoms. 4 atoms Hydrogen, 

2 atoms Oxygen. 

ATOMIC WEIGHTS. We have learned that all 
matter has weight, even the invisible gases and air. A 
bottle filled with air, for instance, weighs more than the 
same bottle if the air is forced out of it. Therefore, 
no matter how small an atom of any element is, it has 
weight. As stated before, (see Elements) it has been 
found that Hydrogen is the lightest known element. 
Therefore, the atom of Hydrogen stands for one (1) 
and the weights of atoms of other elements are ex¬ 
pressed in the relative numerals. For example, when 
we say the atomic weight of oxygen is 16, it means 
that one atom of oxygen has 16 times the weight of 
an atom of hydrogen; or if we could place one atom of 
oxygen on the one pan of a scale, we would have to 
put 16 atoms of hydrogen on the other side to balance 
it. But, as we have no balance sufficiently delicate to 
determine the exact weight of a single atom, the atomic 
weight is determined by indirect means, and many 
principles influence the numbers finally adopted as the 
atomic weight. 

MOLECULAR WEIGHTS. As we learned be¬ 
fore, atoms combine and form molecules. 

Therefore, the molecular weight of a compound is 
the sunt of the weight of the atoms in a molecule. 

Just as the symbols stand for atomic weight, so the 
formulas express the molecular weight. For example: 





22 


, Part 1 


Acetic Acid: the formula reads C2 Hi O2 = 60 . 
How do we get the 60? 

Carbon, 2 atoms; atomic weight being 12 X ^ 
Hydrogen, 4 atoms; atomic weight being 1X4= 4 
Oxygen, 2 atoms; atomic weight being 16 X ^ — 32 

60 

It does not matter what weight the different parts 
represent, whether grams, ounces or pounds, the j>ro- 
portion or relation to each other will always be the 
same as by atoms and molecules. 


NOTE—It has been my honest endeavor to explain the fundamental 
principles of Chemistry, or explanation of chemical terms, in as condensed 
but simple a way as to make it comprehensive to every baker. However, 
to every young baker who has the time or patience to go deeper into the 
mysteries of Chemistry, I would strongly recommend Prof. Lyman C. 
Newell’s book, ”Descriptive Chemistry. ” 




PART 2. 


Yeast, Fermentation, 
Yeast-Foods, Bread Diseases. 


Yeast and Fermentation are so closely related, that 
it really makes little dif¥erence which we explain first. 
The name fermentation originally was given to a pe¬ 
culiar but very interesting class of decompositions. It 
has been known for ages that many organic bodies 
are liable to ferment if exposed to certain organisms, 
which are called ‘‘Ferments.” The dust in the air con¬ 
tains such ferment organisms; but the air also con¬ 
tains other organisms, bacteria and moulds; for in¬ 
stance, stale bread becomes covered with mould; shoes 
or books left in a damp place become mouldy; wine, 
beer or milk become sour when exposed to the air 
which is hastened when the temperature of the air is 
above 60 degrees (F). 

YEAST. 

Yeast has practically been known and used for 
thousands of years. The Egyptians obtained some 
“wild yeast” from the air and started a dough with 
it. From the first baking a portion of the dough was 
saved and used to start the dough for the next day’s 
baking; this was called “leaven.” You can gather 
and cultivate such “wild yeast” by exposing a dish 
of Malt Extract, Glucose or other fermentable sugar 
solution to the air. Alcoholic fermentation will soon 
set in, and as alcoholic fermentation can only be pro- 




2 


Part 2 


duced by yeast, consequently the yeast plants or yeast 
fungus must have been present in the atmosphere. 
But as stated above, there are other organisms or bac¬ 
teria floating around in the same air which are det¬ 
rimental to a healthy yeast growth if they drop into 
your ferment started with the desirable or healthy 
yeast. The same method of starting and raising the 
bread dough with “leaven’’ is still carried on in France 
and other countries of Southern Europe, only more 
care is exercised in nursing the dough along. (See 
Fermentation.) 

I presume that every baker knows today that yeast 
is a plant of the most simple structure, consisting of 
chains of small, round or oval cells or of single cells 
which grow vigorously and multiply thousand fold if 
given the proper food or nourishment, particularly a 
liquid containing principally sugar in some form. 
However, the chemist tells us that yeast requires for 
its existence and growth, lots of other substances or 
elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon, 
hydrogen, mineral substances, proteins, etc., but which 
must be so combined as to be ready for immediate 
assimilation. 

Yeast belonging to the family of Fungi, grows or 
multiplies by “buds” and “spores.” Budding of yeast 
cells means, the mother cell produces several buds 
which break away as new plants and cells, afterwards 
repeating the same process. This process goes on 
very rapidly and in a short time there are millions 
of such cells. 

SPORES are practically young yeast cells nursed 
within the covering or hull of the mother cell. In 
a short time the covering breaks and the young cells 
are set free to shift for themselves. However, yeast 
spores are only formed when there is only little food 
available for the yeast cells and the spores will not 
bud or grow as fast into budding plants as the buds 



Part 2 


3 


set out under more favorable conditions, or having 
better food. 

The chemists in speaking of yeast, use so many 
different words, for instance: yeast plant, fungus, bac¬ 
teria, germs, bacilli, minute organisms, etc.; besides 
in these lower minute forms of life which you have to 
magnify about 500 times to make them visible, it is a 
difficult task to distinguish or keep apart bacteria 
(plant) from microbes (animal). The French chem¬ 
ist Trouessart, gives us the most simple explanation: 
^We shall make use of the term microbe as the general 
designation of all the minute organised beings which 
are found on the borderland between animals and 
plants” 

The baker may easily get confused, having all 
these different terms mentioned in connection with 
yeast. The different kinds of yeast, such as Hop yeast. 
Barm yeast, Dry yeast, Compressed yeast, etc., are 
really mixtures of different substances, only one of 
these substances however being yeast, the rest is food 
for the yeast plants. Other species of fungus or little 
midgets of invisible microbes or bacilli will grow in 
the same food as the pure yeast cells, if they get a 
chance, but then the fermentation will get “wild” or 
putrefaction may set in. 

Therefore, it is very essential that the yeast cells 
or yeast plant is kept from contamination and supplied 
with the proper yeast food. Healthy yeast, sufficiently 
active and added in sufficient quantity in addition to 
causing the dough to rise by the production of alcohol 
and liberation of gas, also prevents or at least checks 
the development of other bacilli, such as butyric and 
lactic, or in other words, prevents the dough from 
getting too “acid” or sour. Such bacilli only 
become abundant or dangerous after alcoholic or yeast 
fermentation grows weaker and gets exhausted. (See 
Fermentation.) 



4 


Part 2 


The yeast cells for a heatlhy growth require:— 

1. Warmth (78 to 90 degrees F is the most 
favorable temperature). 

2. Moisture. 

3. Food, which as already stated consists of ni¬ 
trogenous matter, mineral matters and sugars (Carbo¬ 
hydrates) . 

4. Oxygen, which it gets from the air. 

As the yeast grows or the cells multiply, they break 
up the sugar, forming alcohol and carbon-dioxide gas 
which forces its way between and gets entangled in 
the tenacious particles of the gluten which keeps the 
gas from escaping too quick and thereby the dough 
is raised and made porous. 

On account of the great many ways or methods 
of growing or cultivating yeast, there are different 
kinds or species of yeast. These are all closely related 
and very much alike in appearance and all produce 
alcoholic fermentation. But although grown in a similar 
wort, they develop some distinctly different by-pro¬ 
ducts or different flavor in the fermented liquids. The 
yeast cells of wine, beer and those raised in whiskey 
distilling, each produce a different taste and flavor. 
From the last named source, (the distilleries) nearly 
all the compressed yeast is obtained. 

The strength and flavor of any yeast depends a 
great deal on the care with which it is made and pre¬ 
served. Temperature plays an important part in yeast 
cultivation. 

The compound barm of the Scotch bakers or prac¬ 
tically all stock yeasts or barms, although prepared in 
many different ways by different bakers, depend prin¬ 
cipally on the stability furnished by the hops and the 
diastasic properties of the malt. Sugar, scalded flour 
and potatoes are also used more or less in these liquid 
yeasts and barms. 



Part 2 


6 


BREWERS’ and distillers’ yeasts are formed from 
hops, malt or other liquors which have been boiled 
down in large vats. This is called the mash. In their 
case the yeast is cultivated principally for the purpose 
of giving the product (such as beer, ale, whiskey, etc.) 
the proper flavor. The yeast is a by-product with 
them. But as they make yeast a special study, and as 
they know just which specie of yeast gives tliem the 
desired flavor, they watch their yeast cultures pretty 
close, so as to keep away'all “wild” yeast cells and 
objectionable ferment bacteria. There are two kinds 
of liquid yeast; “top” yeast and “bottom” yeast. The 
difference between the two lies mainly in the difference 
of temperature. At a temperature of from 60 to 80 
degrees (F) fermentation in the mash or wort (al¬ 
ready stocked with yeast) gets more vigorous. The 
increasing amount of carbon dioxide gas, as already 
explained, forces its way to the top of the liquid in 
the vats in numerous bubbles, carrying along the yeast 
cells which settle on top into a sticky, thick scum. 
This is called “top” yeast. 

At a lower temperature, especially below 50 de¬ 
grees (F), fermentation progresses less vigorously 
and much slower, the gas is not so active and does not 
send near so many nor near so strong bubbles to the 
top and consequently most of the yeast sinks to the 
bottom of the vats and settles there. This is “bottom” 
yeast. 

COAIPRESSED yeast is produced by alcoholic 
fermentation of malt or other grain worts. On ac¬ 
count of the large amounts of moisture in the yeast 
(estimated by Hayduck to be 73.5 per cent) a small 
amount of pure starch (corn, rice or tapioca starch) 
is usually added by the manufacturers, before the yeast 
is pressed; besides they claim that this preserves the 
yeast. 

The most important point in favor of using com¬ 
pressed yeast manufactured by a reliable firm, is the 



6 


Part 2 


fact that you can depend more on its uniform strength 
and quality in all seasons of the year and in any kind 
of weather. Of course the baker must do his share 
in keeping this compressed yeast always in a dry, clean 
refrigerator at the proper temperature. Compressed 
yeast should be kept always in a temperature of not 
below 40 degrees (F) or not over 60 degrees. Where 
it is impossible to get compressed yeast fresh oftener 
than once a week, I have found the yeast will keep 
fresh for some time if kept in a very clean jar or crock 
of cold pure water. The yeast will settle at the bottom 
and the water can be poured oif every two days and 
replaced with fresh water. In this way and if kept 
away from sunlight and heat (keep close to 40 degrees) 
the yeast will keep its vitality for some time. But care 
must be taken that no sugar, malt or flour gets into 
the water or else the yeast will start to ferment and 
go bad. Even a few bread crumbs dropped in ac¬ 
cidently will start a disturbance and spoil it. 

DRY yeast can be prepared from almost any good 
healthy liquid stock yeast. Wheatflour and cornmeal 
is added sufficiently to make a dough stiff enough so 
it can be rolled and cut into thin squares or cakes, 
which are then kept exposed to dry air until all mois¬ 
ture is taken out. Such dry yeast has been used ex¬ 
tensively in starting ferment and new mother yeast or 
stock before the use of compressed yeast became so 
universal. 

FERMENTATION. 

Fermentation is a fundamental and most important 
subject in bread baking. It requires continuous at¬ 
tention and the most practical experience. You may 
have the best flour and other materials at your dis¬ 
posal and the most up-to-date equipment, but if the 
fermentation is imperfect and the doughs do not get 
ready at the proper time, the whole business is de¬ 
moralized. 



Part 2 


7 


The term ‘‘Fermentation' itself is derived from 
the latin word “fervere" (to boil) and “fermentum" 
(yeast) so that strictly taken by its meaning it refers 
to a boiling process. Saying a ferment is boiling, how¬ 
ever is speaking only figuratively. When for instance 
in beer brewing, some yeast is added to the sweet, 
warm liquor or wort, we notice a lively agitation and 
bubbles start to come up and soon the whole mass 
seems to be boiling. But as already mentioned in 
chapter on yeast, the bubbles are only the escaping car¬ 
bonic acid gas (carbon dioxide). 

However the term “fermentation” is very broad 
and a great many theories established by such great 
chemists as Pasteur^ Liebig, Thenard and others have 
been contradicted again as scientific researches pro¬ 
gressed in the study of fermentation and Zymology. 
Mr. Kirkland disposes of the matter correctly in one 
short sentence:— 

“The process of fermentation is the act of an organ¬ 
ism seeking its own growth and development." This is 
called the “germ” or “vital” theory of fermentation 
now generally recognized. As mentioned above, be¬ 
sides the yeast plant, which we can culture and control, 
nature provides a great number of species of wild fungi 
and bacteria, microbes and bacilli, all capable to start 
or promote some kind of fermentation. 

Fermentation or Nitrification is also the process 
by which all vegetables and animal substances 
ultimately undergo destruction or decay and finally 
return to the inorganic world (the soil) in the form 
of Carbon dioxide,—Water, Ammonia, Nitrogen, etc. 
— to become again valuable food for plants, and 
under the influence of the sun rays again to generate 
different organic bodies or compounds. 

This practically proves again the indestructibility 
of matter. 




8 


Part 2 


The development and character of fermentation 
is greatly influenced by temperature, and fermentation 
ceases almost entirely below 40 degrees (F) or above 
140 degrees. 

The principal forms of fermentation which interest 
the baker are:— 

1. ALCOHOLIC fermentation, producing princi¬ 
pally alcohol and carbon dioxide. 

0 

2. ACETOUS fermentation. Here we recognize 
again two divisions. 

a. Lactic fermentation the main result being 
Lactic acid. 

h. Acetic fermentation the alcohol being turned 
into acetic acid. 

3. BUTYROUS or putrefactive fermentation the 
main product of which is butyric acid* 

4. VISCOUS or mucous fermentation which 
causes beer to become gummy and sticky and is also 
suspected of causing “rope” in bread. (See Acids, 
Part 1.) 

Fermentation is further divided into two distinct 
classes as applied to chemical action, these are:— 

1. ORGANIZED ferments such as yeast, bacteria, 
etc. 

2. UNORGANIZED ferments or ENZYMES. 

The first are called organized ferments because 
they contain life; pure cultures or new plants can be 
raised or grown from the original stock the same as 
seeds of larger plants, sown in the soil, germinate and 
grow. We have explained them in previous chapter. 

The second class, ENZYMES are chemical sub¬ 
stances which are not living organisms but are pro¬ 
duced by living organisms. 

Such substances or enzymes are present in the yeast 
cells, malt, flour, etc., and the chemist recognizes quite 



Part 2 


9 


a number of dififerent enzymes; Zymase, Invertase, 
Diastase, Maltase, etc. 

Invertase is the substance or ferment which 
changes cane sugar or sucrose into glucose. 

Zymase acting on sugars produces the alcohol and 
carbondioxide. 

Diastase changes raw starch into soluble starch 
and then into maltose and dextrose. 

However, before any of those Enzymes can be¬ 
come active, they must get in contact with plenty of 
water. This is called Hydrolosis. 

ALCOHOLIC fermentation can be started with 
any kind of yeast—liquid, compressed or dry yeast. In 
fact, whenever fermentation is mentioned in con¬ 
nection with breadmaking, it means “alcoholic” unless 
otherwise mentioned. Alcoholic fermentation pro¬ 
gresses best in a sponge or dough at a temperature 
between 78 and 86 degrees (F). Flour and water 
(for sponge) and other ingredients (for doughs) are 
mixed with a specified amount of yeast, the tem¬ 
perature of the water being calculated to give the 
sponge or dough the desired temperature; which varies 
according to conditions. of weather or shop. The 
sponge or dough is then set away and fermentation 
will soon start. The yeast will start budding and as 
the yeast is looking for food, it changes the fermen¬ 
table substances or carbohydrates into alcohol and 
carbon dioxide gas. While trying to escape as already 
mentioned (see Yeast) these gases will expand and puff 
up the dough (held in check by the gluten) making the 
sponge or dough light and porous. But as soon as the 
amount of alcohol produced by the yeast gets too large, 
(over 10 per cent of the total liquid) fermentation 
slows down and finally ceases, or in other words the 
further growth of the yeast has been stopped; the 
cells are dead, having been choked and killed by over¬ 
production of alcohol caused by the yeast itself. 




10 


Part 2 


In fact it is a peculiarity of all ferments, that they 
keep on producing such substances as they need for 
their own food in such superfluous quantities, that they 
(these substances) in time put a stop to the activity 
of the yeast or other ferments. 

This is one of the most important points in the 
whole process of breadmaking and requires the most 
study, experience and care of any baker. It is up to 
him to know the proper time when to check the al¬ 
coholic fermentation, by knocking down the dough 
first and second or third time, or if necessary when to 
cut over the dough and later, when to put the loaves 
in the oven. This will be explained more thoroughly 
in Part 3, under Doughmaking. 

ACETOUS fermentation. A great many bakers 
imagine or take it for granted that all acetous fermen¬ 
tation produces sour bread; but that is not so. Most 
all the materials used in a bread dough contain more or 
less acid bodies—the flour and yeast, the fat and malt; 
even the air and the water used in dough making con¬ 
tain large quantities of oxygen, and as we learned in 
Part I, oxygen produces all kinds of acids or acid 
salts through oxydation. 

We might accept this as‘a fact: 

^‘That acid producing germs of one kind or another, 
or several species at the same time, are always present 
in every form of bread making and in every country^' 

Acid is always there, whether it can be tasted or 
whether it is concealed or hidden from the palate by 
an excessive amount of salt. Salt is the principal in¬ 
gredient which will check acidity in a dough. The 
acid germs have also a certain action on the gluten, the 
gliadin, especially being softened. The protine matter 
of the flour changes into protones and this paves the 
way for another change by a putrefactive ferment, 
known as the Bacterium termo. The increase or 
development of the acidity in a dough however depends 




Part 2 


11 


almost entirely on the temperature of the dough. 
(This is illustrated more thoroughly in Part 4, under 
Dough Making.) 

^ There are some certain rules which govern the 
acidity during fermentation. For instance, if you add 
one more pound yeast than usual to a five hundred 
pound doughy you can thereby either shorten the fer¬ 
mentation period at the usual temperature, or make 
the dough cooler giving it the usual time. It is the 
length of time the sponge or dough is allowed to 
stand, that causes most sour bread. (More facts about 
this are found in Dough Making, Part 4.) 

Lactic fermentation can be carried on to some ex¬ 
tent at the same time or together with the alcoholic 
fermentation in the same dough. 

In my opinion that pleasant “nutty” flavor in white 
bread is created by one specie of “Lactic'' bacillus, 
in conjunction with certain acid ferments (enzymes) 
contained in the flour. 

This particular flavor-producing specie of lactic 
bacillus is always present in every dough, more or less, 
being brought into existence by some of the chemical 
changes of starch into sugar, the condition or quality 
on zvhich the sugar supports or feeds this specie of lac¬ 
tic bacillus. This further strengthens my firm belief 
that the germs and ferments or enzymes, which produce 
and cause that “nutty” flavor in a loaf of bread are 
contained in the flour or rather in its carbohydrates— 
sugar and starch,—and it is up to the baker to know 
how to regulate his fermentation to suit the flour he 
uses, so as to get the proper or the best food for these 
flavor producing organisms. Of course, good healthy 
yeast must be used, and milk helps the flavor, so do 
other yeast foods like Malt Extracts, especially if the 
flour is lacking in quality. 

But remember we have several species of closely 
related acid germs. When allowed to grow undis¬ 
turbed, it is principally lactic and butyric acid which 




12 


Part 2 


causes dough or bread to get sour, more so than the 
acetic acid. (See Dough Making. Part 4.) 

We will have to come back to the same subject 
in Part 4, but I want to call attention here to my 
opinion that although all authorities on bread fermen¬ 
tation state, that the total acid in sour bread consists 
of from 85 to 95 percent of lactic acid, the rest being 
acetic and butyric acid, you can not raise any dough 
with lactic fermentation alone. If it is as I suppose 
a lactic bacillus, which gives the “nutty” flavor, which 
the baker wants, then we must watch its development. 
If lactic fermentation is allowed to develop too fast, 
the lactic acid will get the best of it; it will get slimy 
and encourage butyric or putrefactive fermentation and 
increase the sharpness or sourness of the acetic acid, 
in short, cause “sour bread” by killing off all other 
ferments. 

It has been estimated that there may be no more 
than four to five parts of lactic acid in 10,000 parts of 
baked bread. Of course, bread made with ferments or 
barms, like the scotch bakers use, contains more than 
this proportion and is sharper to the palate. Let me 
quote here the conclusion of Mr. James Scott: “It 
might be thought by some people that such compara¬ 
tively small quantities of acid would hardly affect the 
bread, and that its sourness could be traced to acetic 
acid; but it is a curious fact that, as purposely staled 
bread reveals a gradually increasing quantity of it, the 
lactic acid really has the largest share in the trans¬ 
actions. There may often be quite 85 to 90 percent 
by weight of lactic acid in sour bread, while the acetic 
acid may be as low as from 5 to 6 percent and the 
butyric acid still less. Yet lactic acid does not smell, 
whereas acetic acid has a very pungent scent which 
can be distinguished in the fluid squeezed from sour 
bread.” 

Lactic fermentation develops or thrives best in 
a temperature between 82 and 95 degrees. When the 



Part 2 


13 


temperature of any dough or sponge passes 85 degrees, 
then look out for fast development of acetic acid or 
acetic fermentation. 

Acetic fennentation. Acetic acid has been treated 
in Part I, under acids and also referred to in lactic 
fermentation. In my opinion, the acetic acid is not as 
dangerous in turning dough sour as lactic acid is. In 
fact, I think when yeast gets weak and less alcohol 
is produced (like in an old sponge dough) it is the 
acetic acid which stimulates the fermentation and 
causes a larger expansion of the loaf. As stated above 
however, while a proper percentage of acetic acid fer¬ 
ment will increase the ultimate expansion of the finished 
loaf, we must guard against an excess amount, because 
as we allow the acetic acid ferment to develop, the 
lactic acid will also increase but in larger proportions 
and sour bread will be the result. It has been proven, 
that in a fresh dough about ready for baking, the acetic 
acid percentage is larger in proportion to lactic acid 
than at any time afterwards. In some old doughs ace¬ 
tic acid may be found to have remained stationary for 
24 hours, while lactic acid has increased materially. It 
may be well to remember also, that lactic acid does not, 
weight for weight, correspond with the same acidity 
of acetic acid. Three parts by weight of lactic acid 
have the same acidity as two parts by weight of acetic 
acid. 

BUTYRUS fermentation. From above descrip¬ 
tions we find the “butyric” acid fermentation follows 
closely after lactic fermentation, especially when tem¬ 
perature in dough is allowed to go' above 90 degrees 
F. Therefore, to discourage the fermentation of buty¬ 
ric acid, the process of fermentation must be carried 
on with lower temperature, say between 80 and 85 
degrees F. 

But when fermentation is carried on at too low a 
temperature say below 80 degrees, we have to increase 
the usual amount of yeast, at least one ounce for every 




14 


Part 2 


extra gallon water used and decrease the salt a half 
ounce at the same time; in this way, we get a whiter 
loaf of bread and a good texture but can not get the 
same flavor as in a dough made at 81 to 84 degrees. 
(See Dough Making.) If a dough is mixed and fer¬ 
mented below 80 degrees we must look out for such 
wild ferments or bacteria characteristic to low fer¬ 
mentation, encouraged by retarded yeast growth, which 
in turn produces small amount of alcohol and conse¬ 
quently the evolution of carbon dioxide is too weak. 

In figure 1, I give an illustration of two loaves of 
bread, both standard loaves, each taken at random 
from a thousand-loaf batch. Loaf A has a very fine 
texture, a fine white crumb and thin crust. However, 



A B 

FIG. 1.—A, cool dough, made at 80° B, warm dough, made at 84° 

crust is rather tough and rubbery and of a foxy, red¬ 
dish color and the flavor lacks that something which 
makes people “eat more’’ bread. Ice is used in mixing 
to keep the temperature down below or at 80 degrees, 
as dough must be mixed longer or better than usual to 
stretch and develop the gluten. Loaf B shows a 
darker, creamy color of crumb, and texture is not so 
close. Crust is also heavier and a darker brown but 
more brittle and tender than in loaf A. The flavor of 
loaf B, however, is decidedly more satisfying, “home¬ 
made’’ like, and although to a baker loaf A may appeal 
better as to general appearance, the average consumer 
will eat more slices of loaf B than of loaf A. 






Part 2 


15 


Now as indicated before, the principal dil¥erence 
between the two loaves lies in the temperature at 
which the dough is fermented. In loaf A, more yeast 
and less salt is used to stimulate fermentation at a 
lower temperature. In loaf B, less yeast and more 
salt is used to prevent fermentation from proceeding 
too rapidly. All other ingredients, flour, sugar, yeast- 
food, shortening, etc., are the same. Hence I say 
again the baker who knows his business can make 
bread of different texture, color and flavor out of same 
flour. 

Some chemists have carried on extensive experi¬ 
ments in adding certain acids in addition to the yeast 
in mixing bread dough, and if I recollect right some 
such process has been patented. Now I think there 
are suflicient acid bodies and acid producing ferments 
and enzymes in any good flour which together with 
good yeast, proper food (and a little brain on the 
baker’s part) will make a good loaf of bread without 
any artificial acids or drugs. 

SUMMARY ON FERMENTATION OR 
RAISING BREAD. 

Bread is always raised by some process for the evo¬ 
lution of carbonic acid gas (carbon dioxide) (CO 2 ). 

The process of creating and liberating this gas 
within the substance of a dough may be carried on by 
four different methods. 

1. Chemical combination be/tween carbonate of 
soda and some acid—cream of tartar, tartaric, phos¬ 
phoric acid or muriatic acid. The first three are con¬ 
stituents of baking powders, and effervesce, (foam up) 
when wetted. The principal products of the above 
chemical actions are, tartaric, phosphate and chloride 
of sodium (common salt) with of course the carbonic 
acid gas, the latter being the product wanted. 



16 


Part 2 


2. Chemical decomposition on heating. Carbonate 
of ammonia at about 150 degrees (F), releases over 
50 percent of carbonic acid gas. Bicarbonate of soda 
is so decomposed into carbonic acid gas and carbonate 
of soda. (See Part I, Acids, Bases and Salts.) 

3. The effervescence of aerated water (water in 
which carbonic acid has been dissolved by compres¬ 
sion). Thus ordinary soda water may be mixed with 
some flour into a dough under pressure. As soon as 
the pressure is removed the gas is liberated from solu¬ 
tion, and the dough expands. This is called aerated 
bread. 

4. By Fermentation. This simply depends on the 
multiplication and products of bacteria or microbes. 
As already explained (Fermentation Part 2), these 
organisms feed on oxygen and carbon extracted from 
the carbohydrates or sugars, which are always present 
in dough, and they exhale carbon dioxide or carbonic 
acid gas as the waste product of their life-sustaining 
processes. Temperature, as we have learned, has a 
great deal to do with the condition or nature of fer¬ 
mentation. 

WATER. 

The importance of water in fermentation is fre¬ 
quently overlooked by the baker. Water was consid¬ 
ered an element even by the most famous chemists, up 
to the end of the 18th century, when experiments first 
proved it to be a compound of Hydrogen and Oxygen. 
In Part 1. (Elements and Compounds) we learned that 
the chemical composition of water is H 2 O: 

By volume = two parts hydrogen and one part 
oxygen. 

By weight = one part hydrogen and eight parts 
oxygen. 

On account of its remarkable solvent power, water 
is never found pure in nature. This means that many 
solid substances, most any liquid and many gases are 
absorbed or dissolved when they are put in water. 



Part 2 


17 


Even rain or snow water which are considered the 
purest of natural waters, contain dust, gases, etc., 
washed down from the air. These are called natural 
Soff^ water, because they contain little or no calcium 
or magnesium salts. 

HARD Water contains carbonates and sulphates 
of calcium (lime) or carbonates and sulphates of mag¬ 
nesium in solution. The hardness, due to the presence 
of carbonates is removed by boiling the water, hence 
the term “temporary” hardness. But where calcium 
or magnesium are present in the water as sulphate or 
chloride, these salts are not precipitated or affected to 
any extent by boiling, and the hardness, due to their 
presence, is spoken of as “permanent” hardness. It is 
also claimed that boiling will remove most any ob¬ 
jectionable bacteria that may be present in the water. 
But boiling or distilling gives water a “flat” taste, be¬ 
cause it removes the gases originally taken in from the 
atmosphere, which give the drinking water that fresh¬ 
ness and pleasing flavor. We may say that any water 
which upon analysis is pronounced harmless as a drink¬ 
ing water is also satisfactory for use in the bakery. 
From a sanitary standpoint this is very true. How¬ 
ever, from the practical standpoint the baker must look 
at it different. 

The Altered water supplied by different cities, varies 
to a great extent. Some cities draw their supplies 
from natural springs and brooks; others have to get 
water from muddy, sluggish, poluted rivers, and many 
communities can pump their supply from fresh water 
lakes. Naturally different methods are applied to make 
the water clear and fit to drink, and in many localities 
some chemicals have to be employed. The passage of 
water, containing considerable atmospheric oxygen and 
carbonic acid, through iron pipes is apt to cause the 
solution of enough of the metal as “ferrous” or iron 
carbonate, to cause tea steeped with that water to be 
blackened, cloths washed with it to be stained yellow 




18 


Part 2 


and sometimes a peculiar taste to be produced. We 
also know that some water, especially very soft water, 
containing much dissolved oxygen or organic acids 
attack lead pipes very materially. How can the baker 
say then, that all water looks alike to him? 

Most hard waters dissolve less of the proteins of 
the flour on account of the mineral salts they contain 
in solution as mentioned above. A dough mixed with 
such hard water usually gets tougher during mixing 
and tightens up more during fermentation; but the 
fermentation will proceed slower and the dough will 
stand a longer time before it is ripe. The crumb is 
usually very white, but coarse to the touch and dry to 
the taste. I know quite a number of bakeries, espec¬ 
ially in the middle west, in the natural gas belt, who 
drove wells on their premises from which their water 
supply is pumped. Such water usually contains a 
great deal of sulphur or magnesia salts, making it 
especially well adapted for cracker baking. It makes 
a crisp, very white, but dry cracker. If you want such 
crackers tender, you will have to use more shortening 
than with softer water or add some gelatinized 
(cooked) starch. Now we might draw our conclu¬ 
sions this way: 

“Hard water produces about the same results in 
comparison with soft water, as hard spring wheat dour 
does when used in place of soft zvinter wheat dour.** 
Therefore the baker should take into consideration the 
quality or chemical property of his water supply when 
buying or blending flour. 

I have often heard flour men say they could never 
understand why they cannot get a hold with their flour 
in one city or convince some baker of its merits, while 
in another place they sell every baker and grocer in 
town. I almost feel inclined to suggest to millers 
having trouble of this kind to get a sample of the water 
the complaining baker is using and have it analyzed. 
If water is hard, and you have a strong hard flour. 




Part 2 


19 


more yeast or a higher temperature for the dough may 
be of advantage, or you may blend such flour with 
some softer or some winter wheat flour or even more 
malt extract may give better results. Limewater is 
also recommended as a solvent, especially in rye dough. 

YEAST FOODS. 

The question of how to improve his bread is one 
that interests every progressive baker. In times gone 
by when every baker made his own yeast, stock yeast, 
barm yeast, potato yeast, etc., there was without 
question more individuality in bakers’ bread, especially 
as to flavor. Some bread tasted better to some people 
than all the other bakers’ bread; some was nearly 
always good; some was occasionally good; but a great 
deal was oftener tainted with a suggestion to being 
sour. We admit that bakers’ bread today lacks variety 
of flavor and is very much alike in everything but the 
name, of which there are legions; but it is a fact on 
the other hand, that there is not so much poor bread 
or sour bread turned out by the bakers in *these days 
of compressed yeast, as there was in the days of the 
home-brewed yeast. We also cannot get the men to 
stay up sixteen or eighteen hours to watch the yeast 
and sponge, as in years gone by, and the boss himself 
does not want to take a nap and get up again to watch 
the yeast, start the ferment or set the sponge, and then 
lay down again for a few hours. The flour and water 
bread with a little yeast and salt thrown in does not 
exactly suit the public any more, as a commercial 
loaf eaten at every meal. This is especially true of 
the American-born bread eater. Therefore the baker 
is always looking for a bread improver and the best 
food for his yeast. 

CARBOHYDRATES are mentioned in Part 1, 
under compounds. The different sugars, dextrine, glu¬ 
cose, etc., are called soluable carbohydrates, while the 
raw starch in the flour is an insoluable carbohydrate 



20 


Part 2 


and must first be converted into sugar or glucose. 
They may therefore practically be classed with yeast 
food. (See Part 3 for further details.) 

SUGAR. When we speak of sugar in general we 
mean cane sugar or perhaps beet sugar. I prefer 
the flavor of the cane sugar for use in bread dough. 

I think the New Orleans or raw, unrefined or clarified 
sugar is preferable; even the New Orleans seconds, 
if not too dark contain a good amount of sucrose and 
a rich flavor. 

With sugar it is as with flour. There are a number 
of grades, according to the amount of boiling and the 
quality and color varies^ also from the different plan¬ 
tations. Color does not always indicate the quality 
and there is the old style open kettle process and the 
clarified or centrifugal. The juice from the sugar cane 
is boiled down and clarified at the plantation down 
south before it is shipped to the eastern refineries to 
be reboiled and refined. The plantation granulated 
sugar varies from 94 to 98 degrees sucrose-test. The 
N. O. sec’onds run in color from light gray to dark 
brown and in test for sucrose from 85 to 94 degrees. 
N. O. thirds are too heavy and dark for use in iDread- 
making, but they do for mince meat and fruitcake but 
most of it is used in tobacco. 

If I have to use refined sugar in bread dough, I 
find a soft Confectioners A or light colored C very 
satisfactory for fermentation and prefer them to the 
higher priced granulated. The eastern seconds or 
C sugars run in a number of shades from 1 to 14. 

Beet sugars have no seconds or no soft sugars. 
After the granulated or loaf sugar is refined, the rest 
is sold as syrup. There are sugars found in other 
plants, especially the Indian corn or Maize, but are 
not as sweet as cane sugar. 

Of course, in fermentation or dough making, cane 
sugar, especially the refined sugars, do not work so 
fast as a yeast food as malt or malt sugar or glucose. 




Part 2 


21 


GLUCOSE (grape sugar, dextrose, starch sugar) 
as mentioned in chemistry or fermentation, is found 
in a great many plants, grains and fruits, the latter 
being called fructose. The glucose of commerce can 
be manufactured from any substance containing starch* 
—rice, wheat, corn or maize, potatoes, etc.,—but it is 
not nearly as sweet as sugar or malt extract. I re¬ 
member some years ago, some of the larger bakers 
started to use glucose in bread making to take the 
place of sugar, but as far as I know, most of them 
have discarded the same, as unprofitable, although it 
was cheaper. The same with glycerine, which was 
much more expensive, but being much sweeter, so 
much less was required. But it did not prove a suc¬ 
cess. It is a characteristic of all yeast foods or sug¬ 
ars, that after the yeast has done its work, the baked 
loaf of bread contains much less sugar or sweetening 
than was originally put in the dough. 

MALT is also considered an yeast food and has 
great powers on fermentation when properly prepared. 
Different grains such as barley, wheat, corn, rice and 
oats are capable of being malted. The word malt 
really means a grain which has entered into the pri¬ 
mary or first stages of germination by artificial means 
and then being dried i. e. the germination checked. 
Experience has proved long ago that barley makes 
the best malt because it produces more diastase than 
any other cereal, and therefore barley malt has been 
used almost exclusively by brewers and distillers for 
hundreds of years and also by bakers in making their 
yeasts, barms and ferments. 

MALT EXTRACT is an unfermented extraction 
made from Malt by adding a large quantity of water. 
The whole is then concentrated into syrup, the water 
being removed by evaporation at a low temperature. 
The quality of the finished Malt Extract depends prin¬ 
cipally on the care during this process, the proper 
process of germination or malting of the barley, the 
quality of the barley used, etc.. 



22 


Part 2 


In cheaper extracts some corn or rice grains can 
be used, but I believe such Malt Extract has to be 
labeled as a compound which is proper. A small per¬ 
centage of pure alcohol is mixed with the finished 
extract before it is gotten ready for shipment to in¬ 
crease its keeping quality, i. e. keep it from fermenting 
or souring. 

The chemical composition and action of Malt Ex¬ 
tract has been so freely explained and discussed in the 
trade journals and at conventions, that an exhaustive 
scientific treatise is hardly necessary. A good pure 
Malt Extract contains: 

(a.) Phosphatic Salts or Grain Phosphates, which 
include the soluable Lacto, Phosphpates of different 
elements—as Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, etc. 

(b.) Proteins or Nitrogenous Matter, including 
principally digested Barley Gluten, and Digestive 
Enzymes=Diastase, Albumins, Peptones, etc. 

(c.) Carbohydrates or Malt Sugars, which means 
digested Barley Starch, Maltose and Malto-Dextrine, 
etc. 

(d.) Moisture which also includes the added al¬ 
cohol. 

Although a firm believer in Malt Extract since its 
first introduction and a constant user of large quanti¬ 
ties of it, I have felt it my duty to determine or prove 
to our firm, whether the extra expense of buying Malt 
Extract is justified or if it is only a “luxury” a “no¬ 
tion”, or a waste of money as some bakers declare it 
to be. 

As with all other practical experiments, I based my 
conclusions on results obtained from our regular size 
doughs (about 1,000 loaves to each dough). In this 
instance I made three such doughs, each containing the 
same amount of materials such as salt, compressed 
yeast, water, flour and shortening (except sugar and 
malt.) Temperatures, conditions, amount of mixing, 




Part 2 


23 








24 


Part 2 


etc. also were the same in each dough. The formula 
is one used in one of our leading pan loaves, made 
from straight dough. The illustration (Fig. 2.) on 
page 23 shows one loaf of each dough. 

FIRST DOUGH A. was made with sugar only. 
I use New Orleans or clarified soft sugar (see sugar). 

SECOND DOUGH B., in this dough I use my 
regular ‘‘quick ferment” made of malt extract, corn¬ 
flour, yeast and water, (see fermentation.) But I 
used sugar besides the malt extracts in this dough. 

THIRD DOUGH C., malt extract alone was used 
as an yeast food and sweetener. 

IN DOUGH A., the usual amount of yeast and 
sugar and special cornflour was mixed with 18 lbs. 
of water at 90 degrees. After standing for nearly 10 
minutes, the mixture did not show any signs of fer¬ 
mentation or expansion like regular ferment; (this 
however, I expected, judging from previous experi¬ 
ments.) I then added one pound more of yeast and 
two pounds more sugar and poured the whole mix¬ 
ture into the dough which was already running in the 
mixer as usual. 

FOR DOUGH B., our usual ferment was made 
with 4 lbs. of malt extract, 6 lbs. of cornflour (spec¬ 
ial) 4 lbs. of yeast and 14 lbs. of water. This fer¬ 
ment was ready in the usual time (about 18 min; for 
particulars, see ferments.) It was then added at once 
to the dough already running in mixer. Besides this 
ferment, 12 lbs. of sugar had already been added to 
the dough, with the salt, shortening and water. The 
reason why I add the extra sugar in my straight doughs 
is explained in chapter on Fermentation. 

IN DOUGH C, the same ferment was prepared as 
in Dough B, with the exception that I used the double 
amount of malt extract and no sugar in the dough. 
This ferment was ready or fell in two minutes less time 
than in Dough B. 



Part 2 


25 


These three doughs were made 25 minutes apart, 
which is the regular time we allow between each 1,000 
loaf dough. Each dough is supposed to be ready for 
first knockdown in 3^^ hours; second knockdown in 
4^ hours, and ready for bench or divider in 5 hours. 

However, as I expected, the first dough A., stood 
3 hours and 40 minutes or 10 minutes overtime before 
it was ready for first knockdown, although it had one 
pound extra yeast. Second knockdown also had to be 
waited with 15 minutes longer than usual. 

Second dough B. came on regular time 3^ hours, 
4^ hours and was ready in five hours. 

Third dough C. stood just about the regular time 
for first knockdown (3^ hours) but came quicker sec¬ 
ond time (4 hours) and had to be punched once more 
(4^ hours). 

The consequence was that the first dough A. was a 
little too young; the second dough B. was perfect and 
the third dough C. was already getting a little old. I 
could have taken dough C. first, dough B. next and 
dough A. last, and then I could have obtained about 
same kind of loaf from each dough. But as it was an 
experiment; the object was to note the results for com¬ 
parison. In the proof-room the following time was 
required: 

Dough A. These loaves stood 55 minutes. 

a 3^ - ‘‘ 43 

“ C. “ ‘‘ “ 45 

This shows that the loaves from all three doughs 
were ready for the Oven at almost the same time, es¬ 
pecially as the loaves made with Malt Extract alone 
(dough C) do not require to come up so high in the 
pans. In the ovens the bread from doughs B. and C. 
colored and baked a little quicker than the loaves from 
dough A. The illustration tells the story: 

Loaf A. is rather close grained and solid, although 
the heavy crust indicates that it was thoroughly baked. 



26 


Part 2 


Color of crumb or inside is a clear, healthy white and 
flavor sweet and pleasant. Crust is a good, healthy 
golden brown. 

Loaf B. has a very regular texture, almost perfect 
and a good, rich, clear, light creamy color. The crust 
is a little heavy but very tender, not a bit tough and 
of a rich brown color. The flavor is that pleasant, 
sweet, satisfying, “nutty” kind, frequently referred to 
as homemade. 

Loaf C. is the largest loaf, but texture is not quite 
as good as B. and color of crumb not quite so white. 
This dough C. should be taken sooner, i. e.—kept 
younger. (Crumb means inside or soft part of loaf.) 
From my own experience I came to these conclusions 
on the merits of Malt Extract: 

It stimulates fermentation. 

It is an excellent yeast food and by providing or 
preparing proper food for the yeast, less yeast can be 
used. 

It also gives bread a distinct, pleasing, rich flavor. 

The crust of a malt loaf always has a rich, golden 
brown color, if dough is kept young enough. 

But the most important point in favor of malt ex¬ 
tract is, its power to reduce the amount of raw or 
unconverted starch in our bread and make it better 
digestible. 

Malt Extract also helps to retain the bread moist 
or fresh for a longer time; the chemists call this the 
hydroscopic power or moisture retaining properties. 

For large bakeries working with modern improve¬ 
ments and having the doughs under perfect control, I 
recommend a high diastasic Malt Extract, say 120 de¬ 
grees Lintner. For a smaller bakery however, where 
the dough can not always be worked off at schedule 
time, I would recommend to be careful and not use 
too much malt extract or too strong an extract, as it 




Part 2 


27 


can do more harm than good, if allowed to work itself 
all out by prolonged fermentation, or especially if 
dough is made too warm. 

The “Lintner” process for determining or testing the 
diastasic power or strength of Malt Extract, is used by 
the manufacturers of malt extract and chemists, and 
they offer or are able to prepare an extract of such 
test as: 

140 degrees 120 degrees 

90 degrees 60 degrees 

or as low as 20 degrees. But as one degree Lintner 
represents such a small amount of diastasic action it 
sound bigger to speak of 120 degrees than of a 60 de¬ 
gree extract than what the difference really represents 
in actual strength. To make these Lintner tests is a 
rather complicated process, and it -would be almost im¬ 
possible for a baker to select or test different extracts, 
to find the proper degree extracts to suit the different 
kinds of dough. It takes an expert chemist or malt 
specialist to accurately make these tests. 

As to the quantity of malt extract a baker should 
use, conditions such as water, temperature, altitude and 
strength of flour vary so, that no certain amount can 
be recommended to every baker. In general from IJ /2 
to 2 pounds is sufficient to a barrel or say 200 pounds 
of flour if you want to use it with sugar; malt extract 
alone figure 3 to 4 pounds. 

I have mentioned above that I prefer to use malt 
extract and sugar both in the same dough. My ex¬ 
perience has been that in this way I get best results, 
and my reasoning is this: Malt extract works faster 
or more aggressive, especially a 120 degree extract on 
both the starch and gluten than sugar. Therefore, I 
use the malt ferment to start the work and provide 
ready food for the yeast, the sugar will be working 
slower and preserve more of its sweetness. Both used 
in same dough, work better than either malt or sugar 
alone. As there are now several responsible firms who 





28 


Part 2 


make a pure, uniform Malt Extract, the baker, large 
or small, should have no difficulty to get the right qual¬ 
ity of Malt Extract if he is willing to pay the right 
price. 

GROUND MALT, Malt Powder or Malt Flours 
made from selected barley make a very strong yeast 
food. The flavor is more of a distinct malt flavor, but 
even more care must be taken not to use too much of 
it. It does not start its work with the yeast as quick 
as liquid malt extract, but after it started to work once, 
the dough must be watched closely and punched down 
frequently. One advantage of using malt in dry form 
is, that it is easier to handle than liquid extract and 
will not turn sour. Of course, you do not want to al¬ 
low dry malt to get stale, or damp or keep in too warm 
a place. 

I used Malt Flour some twelve or more years ago, 
and got good results. In rich, sweet doughs, for coffee 
cakes, rolls and buns, wherever more sweetening sub¬ 
stance is wanted, I find malt powder does good work. 
To use very large quantities of sugar, is liable to make 
the dough too rich, while malt furnishes a better yeast 
food and makes the dough lighter. Therefore I rec¬ 
ommend to use malt as stimulant and sugar to sweeten 
the dough. One advantage is, that you can take such 
sweet rich doughs very young as the rolls, buns or 
coffee cakes will come along faster in the proof-room, 
and the expansion in the oven is remarkably good. 

BREAD DISEASES. 

What causes dough getting sour ? As we all know, 
dough is more liable to turn sour in summer than in 
winter. We know further that uncleanliness of tools 
and vessels facilitates the souring of dough, but this 
does not solve the question. We must seek the cause 
elsewhere. 

But it is not only bread dough which gets sour in 
the summer time, but almost all meat, yeast, milk, etc., 



Part 2 


29 


will soon spoil if left openly or exposed to the air. 
Therefore, we most naturally must suspect “the atmos¬ 
phere.’’ But is it solely the heat? That can not be, 
because we try to keep the same temperature in the 
shop and dough room in winter, and even make the 
dough warmer. Now, since the heat of the shop does 
not (as the sun heat or atmospheric heat) facilitate 
souring of the dough, the cause must be in the chemical 
condition of the atmosphere. We have learned in 
Part I, that the air consists largely of oxygen, and this 
change in the atmosphere in summer time contains a 
larger proportion of oxygen or the oxydising faculty 
or chemical attraction of the same, becomes more 
active; especially before or during electrical distur¬ 
bances or thunder storms, the air becomes heavy and 
sultry and milk curdles, the doiigh gets sour, if not 
watched closely. Lime-water kept in flat vessels in 
the bakeshop and dough room is a good preventative 
for this evil; so is an occasional washing of the troughs 
and tubs, water tanks, etc. with lime water and fre¬ 
quent white-washing of walls and ceilings to be re¬ 
commended. These precautions have the effect of 
neutralizing the acids which may be present and render 
them harmless. 

MOULDY FLOUR and mouldy bread are caused 
by certain species of moulds, somewhat allied to the 
mushroom, and like those formed on top of preserved 
fruits. The most common is the “blue green” mould; 
dampness in flour causes such mould and murky 
weather has the same effect on bread. 

BUTYRIC FERMENTATION may also be 
classed with the bread diseases, because as soon as 
this strong acid gains any foothold in a dough, putre¬ 
faction (rottenness) is the result. 

ROPE IN BREAD. The most dreaded bread dis¬ 
ease is the so-called “Rope.” Eortunately to say, I never 
had an opportunity to become personally acquainted 
with this dreaded “foe” of the bakeshop. I have seen 
loaves of bread infected with the disease and have met 




30 


Part 2 


bakers, half crazy and worried to death over it. But my 
opinion is, that the bacteria, microbes or organisms 
causing rope are present more or less in nearly every 
flour, or different grades of flour, and they may also 
be hanging around on the walls and ceiling of any shop 
or lurking in some crevises of your dough troughs 
and tubs for a long time perfectly harmless. They 
are just waiting for the proper condition or food to 
come within their reach to materialize, and behold, 

when once started, it is h- to get rid of them. I 

agree with the American Miller who says in an editor¬ 
ial: “He contents himself with stating that rope is 
caused by a ferment, but whether it is the ‘pediacoccus 
cercoisive" as Jago calls it, or the bacillus subtillus of 
Blandy, he evidently cares not, contenting himself with 
a study of the conditions under which ‘rope’ appears 
and how to avoid or neutralize these ferments.” 

German scientists claim that rope is caused by the 
potato bacillus ‘hsc. meseutericus fusciis Flugge' which 
are present in the flour. Now I compare this “rope” 
with the germ of contagious diseases. Disease germs 
are always present more or less in the human body, 
just waiting for the proper condition for infection and 
their development and multiplication. This theory is 
supported by the fact that certain diseases make their 
appearance in different seasons of the year and dis¬ 
appear in colder or warmer weather. The same with 
rope in bread. It is most prominent during the hot 
summer months, especially in a long damp, sultry hot 
spell. You hear little about it in winter. 




PART 3. 


Flour, Gluten, Chemical and 
Practical Tests. 


FLOUR. 


STANDARD OF FLOUR. 

The establishing of a flour standard seems impos¬ 
sible. Few bakers seem to realize the difficulties the 
miller is up against. To get a supply of wheat to make 
exactly the same quality of flour from one crop to 
the next is a harder proposition than we bakers com¬ 
prehend. The miller’s raw material varies a great 
deal more than the baker’s raw materials. Not only 
does the wheat from different sections of the country 
differ in quality and demand different treatment before 
it can be profitably milled, but the wheat growing in 
the same section, even on one farm frequently differs. 
The blending of this wheat and the dressing of it 
during the milling, to get a uniform run of flour is a 
science, the practice of which requires more care and 
experience than the average baker ever dreamed of. 

To sell a baker flour three or six months ahead, 
guaranteeing a certain standard to be delivered at 
that time, is a pretty hard proposition. In fact, it is 
only the larger mills who can honestly guarantee their 
product so far ahead, as they alone have the means 
enabling them to ascertain the exact composition their 
product will have. This is accomplished by tests made 
in their experimental mills or their laboratories. But 





2 


Part 3 


one thing the baker can assure himself of is that the 
miller making a standard brand of flour can not 
afford to deliberately deceive him as to quality for 
any length of time. They ah make good flour and none 
of it should be condemned as bad. 

The main thing is, the baker must first study his 
method of working a flour and then pick out the one 
that is best adapted to this method. He can also 
change his method of working and give a flour a 
chance to show its best results. As business is now, 
the cracker man demands one kind of flour, the small 
baker another and the large baker still another. But 
the coiriplaints the average miller or the miller’s agent 
gets, come more frequently from the small baker than 
from any other source. The larger percent of high- 
priced flours are put out as short patents. The gluten 
in them is of a better quality than in the longer patents, 
even though there may not be as much of it. The 
better the quality of the gluten the shorter fermenting 
period is necessary or the less time the dough needs 
to stand. 

Right here is where the trouble comes in. The 
average small baker makes a long time sponge or 
long time straight dough. These allow so much acid 
to develop that it weakens the gluten of good quality 
in a short patent, and causes a runny dough with poor 
raising power and often a dark, smaller loaf. But 
with a longer patent or straight, this method often gives 
fair results, especially if a baker has become used to 
handling a certain brand for any length of time. 

By this you can readily see that it is up to the baker 
to choose, for a standard, the flour that is best adapted 
to his methods of working, or else change his methods 
to suit the flour—or, still another way is to blend. 
But one thing in particular to remember is, that the 
large mill with well advertised brands can not afford 
to give you bad goods, so in place of blaming it all 
on the flour, why not try and change your method and 
formula and you will get good results. 



Part 3 


3 


Then there are so many conditions affecting the 
different constituents of a flour after it leaves the mill, 
that the original laboratory test may be changed con¬ 
siderably before it is made into dough. Suppose the 
car is sidetracked somewhere on the road and left 
exposed to dampness and rain or snow. The flour 
will draw more or less of the dampness, especially if 
it is put in storage for a month or more afterwards. 
The consequence is, that such a flour will develop more 
acidity which has a weakening effect on the gluten, 
and when finally brought to the bakery it will not pro¬ 
duce the same loaf of bread when given the same work¬ 
ing method the baker used for the sample or the 
previous car; or a car of flour is exposed for several 
days to scorching sun rays, when it is 95 or over in 
the shade, and then the flour is stored* for some time 
in a dark or badly ventilated warehouse. Such flour 
will not give the same test as the one taken and placed 
on record at the mill. 

From my own particular experience after thirty- 
five years in the bakeshop, and being up against all 
kinds and qualities of flours (varying widely from year 
to year according to conditions of wheat crop) I 
have, come to the conclusion that there is more good, 
reliable, uniform flour at the baker’s disposal at the 
present, than ever before. If the baker is willing to 
pay the price, he can get the right quality of flour, and 
frequently one can get hold of an excellent or valuable 
flour from a smaller mill, at a low price; on account 
of their brand not being so well known, and their 
selling facilities being limited, they often accept a 
lower cash offer than the quality of their flour really 
would* entitle them to. 

I like to go on record with the statement, that in 
my opinion the time is not so far distant, when the 
baker will leave the blending entirely to the miller, and 
many a wise baker is doing so today. All that is 
necessary, is the confidence in a square deal, and the 
taking in consideration of unforseen circumstances, 



4 


Part 3 


which may affect the flour, after it leaves the mill, 
as mentioned above. Of course different kinds of 
bread require different grades of flour, as described 
further on, under Blending and Dough Making. 

Every baker should keep a note book for records 
of all tests of flours, marking down dates receiving 
flour, date of test, brand, percent of gluten, its quality 
and color, absorption, color and character of each flour, 
etc. 

DISTINCTION IN FLOUR. 

Grades of Flour. In general, wheat flour may be 
classified as follows: 

1. Flour obtained from center of grain and 
ground more or less fine (fine flours). 

2. Flour milled from other part of grain as well 
as part of center, not so finely ground (fine sharps, 
seconds, etc.) 

3. Flour obtained from the entire grain (whole¬ 
meal flour, graham). 

The main differences between these flours exist in 
the amount of nitrogenous matter, and salts which 
each contains. As we change from the finer flours to 
whole meal, we notice that the nitrogenous particles or 
proteins and mineral matter increase and the carbo¬ 
hydrates, starch, sugar, etc., decrease in percentage. 
Now we know that part of the nitrogenous matter and 
also a small proportion of the carbohydrates are sol¬ 
uble in water. But during the process of cooking 
the soluble albuminoids are coagulated and thereby 
rendered quite insoluble, while insoluble carbohydrates 
like starch are rendered into more soluble forms. 

It is quite sufficient for the baker to recognize five 
grades of wheat flour. 

1. First Patent (60 to 65%). 

2. Second Patent (65 to 70%). 

3. Straight (70 to 85%). 

4. First Clear (80 to 90%). 

5. Low grade Red Dog (90 to 95%). 



Part 3 


5 


The germ which would be included in the first 
Patent, is always separated from the other constitu¬ 
ents of the grain. 

DIFFERENT GRADES OF FLOUR. 

The most simple explanation how the different 
grades of flour' are accounted for, was given by Mr. 
(H. S. Helm, at the Mineapolis Bakers’ Convention. 
(To give us all a chance to memorize these names, I 
jquote Mr. Helm’s remarks: “There are four sources 
during the milling process which account for all the 
flour from the wheat viz: the Break flours, the Mid¬ 
dling flours, the Tailings flours, and the Dust Col¬ 
lector flours. Each of the thirty to forty streams of 
finished flour comes from one of these four sources. 
|The purified Middlings flours, comprising from 60 to 
70 percent of all the flour product are always run 
together and make up what is called a pure middlings 
patent, the highest grade of flour made. When run¬ 
ning a pure middlings patent, the break flours, tail¬ 
ings flours and dust collector flours, aside from a 
small portion of low grade, are run together for a 
grade called first clear. All grades of flour between 
middlings patent and first clear are some combination 
of the two. Therefore, in discussing the working pro¬ 
perties of bread making flours, we may designate them 
either as middlings patents, long patents or first clears.’’ 

Flour Bleaching. The yellow or dark coloring 
matter in flour is minute in quantity and has no food 
value. It is claimed by competent chemists, that the 
minute quantity of bleaching gases used for bleaching 
flour have the power of changing this coloring matter 
in such a way as to make it appear colorless, but does 
not introduce any injurious substance into the flour. 
It has even been claimed that some flours are improved 
in quality by drying it out by the bleaching process, 
and by thus aging it, it produces more loaves of bread 
and a larger loaf. However, I prefer to see nature do 
the bleaching in its natural way. Furthermore, the 




6 


Part 3 


baker would always be at the mercy of the miller unless 
he tested every shipment of flour or had an analysis 
made, because the color could deceive him very easily. 
Although by bleaching different grades of flour they 
may hold their relative position or composition in 
every other respect, as before the bleaching process is 
applied, there is always room for mis-representation of 
grade. Some second patents or straights from one mill 
may be as good (and• sometimes are) as the first 
patent from another mill, and the baker may be willing 
to pay a better price for such second Patent or Straight 
than he would ordinarily pay; but if the miller knows 
this fact it is more than likely that he would apply 
the bleaching process and sell it to the baker at a 
more fancy price. Now the baker buying this flour 
at its natural stage at the grade price, can blend it with 
a white fancy Winter or first Spring patent and save 
the premium otherwise added by the miller. There¬ 
fore, bakers are safer since the bleaching of flour 
has been prohibited. 

If bleaching is a benefit to flour, commercial loy¬ 
alty or honesty demands that the buyer should be in¬ 
formed whether any chemical or physical process has 
been applied. 

Flour Blending. Now there is not so much danger 
of chemical changes affecting the flour or quality in 
general from blending if flours are about of same age, 
as there is in blending flours of different age; for 
instance one flour just from the mill fresh ground, 
and another flour which was kept in warehouse for 
several weeks or months. 

I can not see as much benefit in mixing flour of last 
crop with flour of new crop, either, as most bakers 
imagine. It is better to adjust your working methods 
or fermentation to the condition of the flour on hand. 
Of course you get less volume out of a fresh ground 
new wheat, and new flour may not be as strong in 
gluten as that from previous crop. Therefore, it is 
well to have some flour from last crop in reserve to 



Part 3 


7 


use as a blend until the new flour is seasoned and its 
working character established. 

Kansas flour makes a good blend with hard Nor¬ 
thern or Minnesota Spring Patent. I like a rich, 
short, 60 percent Kansas Middling Patent for this 
purpose. It gives a good color to the loaf and good 
texture, and good flavor. 

Then an addition of say 10 to 15 percent of soft 
winter straight makes a rich blend of good flavor, and 
enables you to cut down sugar and shortening. 

Any well known brand of Minnesota Spring Patent 
may be used as Standard in the laboratories. It is not 
conclusive, however, that the same brand of Spring 
Patent is or can be used every year as standard for 
comparison in chemical analysis with all other flours. 
The most uniform and best balanced in every respect 
is selected after new crop wheat has matured. I, my¬ 
self, have had occasion to change the standard for 
three successive years, and then again I have adopted 
one brand for three years in succession for my stand¬ 
ard flour. As mentioned before, it is not only very 
instructive, but also of real cash value to any baker to 
preserve these records from year to year for compar¬ 
ison. 


COMPOSITION OF FLOUR. 

Moisture in Flour. The moisture or water con¬ 
tained in fresh milled flours varies very little. Even 
the different grades do not vary to any great extent; 
the highest percent seldom exceeds 15 percent, the low¬ 
est being less than 9.50 percent. The percentage of 
moisture or water as standard for a good bread flour 
may be set down at 12.00 percent. Most of this water 
is found in the starch or carbohydrates. These being 
very susceptible to taking up moisture, (hydroscopic 
power) flour is very liable to take up moisture when 
exposed to damp, moist air. However, this is detri¬ 
mental to the baking quality of flour, as an excess of 
water causes chemical changes in the flour, the acidity 




8 


Part 3 


increases and softens the gluten (gliadin), and more 
or less dextrin and maltose will be produced by dia- 
stasic enzymes. Also moulds are encouraged by ex¬ 
cessive moisture in flour. 

When exposed to dry air, sun rays, and heat, 
flour loses moisture. This has more effect on the 
fat (ether extract) and color of flour; it bleaches out 
and loses in flavor also due to chemical changes. How¬ 
ever, as to the money value of the loss to the baker, that 
is evened up by the larger absorption of water in dry 
flour. If flour loses ly^ to 3 percent or an average 
of 2 pounds per barrel in transit or storage, it surely 
will take up that amount or more extra water in dough 
making. 

The miller is the one who has to pay more atten¬ 
tion to the moisture in the wheat, as the soundness 
of wheat is greatly affected by too much water, also 
much skill and care is required during the process of 
milling, to have the finished flour contain the proper 
amount of moisture, without affecting the different 
constituents of the flour. 

Absorption. As we all know, different flours ab¬ 
sorb, or take up, more or less water. The difference 
may be 15 percent, or in other words a barrel of flour 
may absorb from 100 to 135 pounds of water. The 
■extra water may be credited as nearly so many pounds 
of bread, allowing a trifle extra expense for salt, yeast, 
sugar, etc. Two flours may be nearly alike in general 
composition, but differ greatly in the amount of water 
they can carry. I say carry, because some flour, (es¬ 
pecially cheaper grades) may take up more water in 
mixing, but the dough slackens up and gets sweaty and 
sticky afterwards. Some flour men lay great stress 
on the absorption power of their flour; some are reg¬ 
ular “water eaters,” “hungry as wolves,” for water; 
but as I have mentioned the relation of absorption to 
other qualities in the different chapters, it needs no 
further comment. All I say, if a baker gets 60 
percent water into his dough for every pound of 




Part 3 


9 


wheat flour used, he ought to be satisfied. I say 
pound of wheat flour because we can add a mush or 
prepared corn flour, maize flakes, etc., which take 
more water, up to 200 percent. Any excess amount 
over 60 percent will either evaporate in baking or re¬ 
quires extra yeast, yeast-food, fat, etc. Of course as 
will be shown later on, the process of developing the 
gluten during mixing process, increases water absorp¬ 
tion and gives whiter color. 

Strong Flours need a longer fermentation with 
straight dough method, as short fermentation with 
strong flour produce tough, dry bread with irregular, 
coarse texture and occasionally large holes. 

Some flours, especially short Patents, are mis¬ 
leading in absorption of water as they dough up 
rather soft first, but tighten up either during mixing 
or during fermenting stages of the dough. 

You can judge by doughing up a sample of flour 
if dough will be firm and elastic or slacken up and 
ferment wet and sticky. Work the sample well with 
your hands and break frequently with a quick snap. 
Then let rest for ten minutes under cover and repeat 
working again. Make note of your observation. 

PROTEINS. The total protein content of differ¬ 
ent kinds of flour shown by analysis, varies more than 
any other item, but in the various brands of the same 
grade of flour from different mills the difference is 
very slight, nowadays. The proteins in a wheat ker¬ 
nel (and in flour) are best classified as follows: 

1. An albumin, which is soluble in water and co- 
agulable by heat. 

2. A globulin, which is soluble in salt solution, also 
coagulates in heat. 

3. A proteose body, soluble in water, but not co¬ 
agulated by heat. 

4. Gliadin soluble in dilute alcohol (of 70 percent). 

5. Glutenin, which is not soluble in either water, 
salt solutions or alcohol, but softened and partly dis¬ 
solved by certain acids. 



10 


Part 3 


These bodies are present in average bread flour 


about as follows: 

Albumin . 0.3% 

Globulin .9% 

Proteose Body.2% 

Gliadin .6.8% 

Gluten in .4.0% 


Total .12.2% 


It will be seen from this table that the gluten (con¬ 
sisting of gliadin and glutenin) forms nearly the whole 
protein content of the flour. The other protein bodies 
are of Httle practical interest to the baker. For in¬ 
stance, when we mix a spring wheat flour with a 
soft winter wheat flour, we are mixing two glutens of 
a different character or in a different condition for 
peptonization; they will act and react to some extent 
on each other. This applies also when we blend 
different grades of spring wheat flour. 

COLOR OF FLOUR. 

The usual method of testing color of flour is to 
place a small amount of the flour on a glass tile or 
smooth board. Smooth it down solid with a “slicker,” 
cut off three sides which leaves a rectangular, smooth 
body. Now prepare a similar sample of your stan¬ 
dard flour; push the two close together, side by side, 
and with one firm stroke of the slicker, smooth them 
both at the same time. If there is any difference in 
the colors it will be readily noticed in the line between 
the samples. But any difference in color can be noticed 
much plainer by plunging the slab with the samples into 
a basin of water. As the flour dries, the more marked 
will be difference in the color. It is advisable to keep 
a sample of a standard unbleached spring Patent flour 
on hand for the purpose. Keep it in a bag in a dry, 
airy place, but not exposed to direct sunlight. 

Another good simple test for color a flour will pro¬ 
duce in bread dough, is made like this: Dough up a 










Part 3 


11 


small amount of flour, not too stiff (or use a piece of 
same dough made for gluten test as described in 
“Practical Flour Tests/’) and place it on a piece of 
clear, colorless glass, and flatten it down some. After 
standing for about 24 hours, turn it over, and examine 
the bottom of the dough through the glass. Thus 
you get a good test of the exact color of the flour. I 
understand this test has been used by officers of the 
commissary department in charge of the purchase of 
flour for the army. 

My own way to determine color has been described 
in “Practical Flour Tests.” 

FAT CONTENTS OF FLOUR. 

What the chemist calls the “Ether Extract” in 
tiour is mostly natural fat or oil. The relative quan¬ 
tity of extract which is obtained from a flour depends 
almost entirely upon the degree of perfection with 
which the grain is freed from its germ in middlings. 
Where some of the germ is left in the flour, the per¬ 
cent of ether extract will be high; where the germs 
are almost completely removed the ether extract or 
fat will be low. Wheat flour contains an average of 
1.02 percent of fatty matter or ether extract; Rye 
flour as much as 2 percent. The fat is extracted from 
flour by mixing one part of the flour (say one ounce) 
with four parts of ether and four parts of pure al¬ 
cohol and shaking well. It is then heated in a tube 
to 104 degrees F. and the fat will be seen separating 
and coming to the top in little globules. 

ACIDS IN FLOUR. 

Although the acidity of a flour can be ascertained 
in a chemical way by titrating with an alkali solution 
(as explained later on), I depend more on my prac¬ 
tical test (Plate II, page 33). By repeated'practice any 
practical baker can become quite efficient to judge the 
acidity of a flour by this simple method. There is still 
another valuable advantage in these doughing tests 




12 


Part 3 


for determining the character of the acid ferments 
contained in a flour. When you break the pieces of 
dough after standing about 24 hours you will be sur¬ 
prised by the difference of the odor of the interior 
of each piece. Some retain a rather sweet, pleasant 
flavor while others have a more or less pungent, sour 
smell, some even may be called rotten (putrefactive). 
After gaining some practice through repeating these 
tests regularly with different flours, you can form a 
very fair judgment not only as to the acid in the flour, 
but as to the relation of the ash content as to color and 
acidity in large doughs. The percentage of acid grad¬ 
ually increases as the grade of flour decreases and we 
may say acidity goes up or down with the percentage 
of ash in a flour, the lowest grades containing most 
and the highest the least. 

Acidity of Flours and Doughs. Prof. H. C. Har¬ 
rison summed up the acidity as follows: 

1. Flours from different localities show a wide 
variation in their acid and bacterial content. 

2. The alkaline test indicates a rapid development 
of acid in 3 to 5-hour doughs. 

3. Weak flours test higher in acidity than stronger 
flours. 

4. Flours yielding a good quality of gluten have a 
lower acid content than those with an inferior quality 
of gluten. 

5. Graham flours test highest of all in acid. Next 
in order are “low grades,” “straight” and “patents.” 

6. Numbers of bacteria are not in the same ratio 
as the amount of acid found in flours and doughs. 

7. No colonies of the lactic acid bacillus were 
found. 

8. The commonest organism present in practically 
all the samples was an organism producing a yellow 
color which had an acid reaction when grown in sterile 
milk and curdled it. 




Part 3 


13 


9. The bacteria in stale flours were chiefly putre¬ 
factive forms and most of them formed spores. 

10. Hard wheat flours and “patents” contained 
comparatively few bacteria. “Graham,” “low grade” 
and “soft” wheat flours, on the other hand, contained 
very large numbers of both bacteria and molds. 

Acid Tests of Flour, Sponge, Doughs, Etc. Flour 
does not readily give up its acids to solvents. To 
determine the acidity of a flour the chemists use this 
method: 10 grams of the flour and 200 c. c. of dis¬ 

tilled water are placed in a bottle and shaken well 
and repeatedly. After about one* hour the solution is 
filtered, and 50 c. c. of it is titrated with a tenth normal 
solution of pottassium-hydrate, using phenolphthalein 
as an indicator. This is done as follows: 

Pour 50 c. c. of the flour solution in a glass (very 
clean) and add 3 drops of phenolphthalein and stir 
with glass rod. Then fill a burette with above solu¬ 
tion of potassium hydrate to a certain mark, say, 50 
c. c., so you can read the amount used correctly. Drop 
some' of the normal solution from the burette into the 
glass containing the flour solution, stirring it contin¬ 
ually, adding a few drops at a time from the burette. 
As soon as the solution in the glass turns pink, the re¬ 
action is complete, and you calculate the acidity from 
number of c. c. (cubic centimeters) of the standard 
solution in the burette used to turn the flour (or 
sponge or dough) solution pink. This is called 
“Titration.” 

ASH CONTENT IN FLOUR. 

There has been considerable said and written 
about the ash content of flours. Some bakers 
buy their flour on the ash content test, fur¬ 
nished by a laboratory, but if I was a miller, 
I would never sell to a baker on such agreement. 
Now while a low percentage of ash indicates a short 
Patent, or so-called first or fancy Patent, and a 



14 


Part 3 


larger percent of ash is supposed to identify the flours 
as a second or long Patent, yet a longer Patent from 
one mill may be almost identically the same grade or 
have the same value to the baker as a shorter or first 
Patent from another mill. 

Low ash must correspond with other qualities of a 
flour, such as gluten, color, etc. The quantity of ash 
recovered from a sample of flour is so small, that the 
slightest oversight by the chemist or his assistant, who 
generally makes these tests, renders the test unreliable. 
Another weak point is, that chemists do not all make 
their ash determinations under absolutely identical con¬ 
ditions. 

You may get a widely different ash result on the 
same flour if submitted to different chemists, due to 
very slight differences in the methods of analysis em¬ 
ployed. However, in a good first or fancy Spring 
Patent, the ash is expected to amount from forty to 
forty-eight hundredths (0.40 to 0.48) average 0.4-4 per¬ 
cent; in second Patents 0.48 to 0.65, and then in 
straight, clear and whole wheat flours up to 0.84 and 
to 1.80 percent respectively. 

The ash bears a very close relation to the color of a 
flour. The higher the ash content, the lower, or poorer, 
the color. 


GLUTEN. 

What is Gluten? 

Gluten has commanded more attention and dis¬ 
cussion in bakers’ trade journals and at conventions 
than any other substance, connected with flour or bread 
making. It has been called the “backbone of cereals 
the “lean meat of the vegetable kingdom,” the “Prince 
of Proteins,” etc. As a fact it stands related to the 
vegetable kingdom as does albumin to the animal 
kingdom. However, in no other cereal or plant is 
the gluten so prominent or important, as in the wheat 
and the flour made therefrom.” 



Part 3 


15 


But, it will be shown in this chapter that the quan¬ 
tity or percentage of total gluten in a flour is not of 
as great an importance to the baker, as most flour 
salesmen have tried to make him believe. However, 
most flour men are getting wise to the fact, that there 
are more bakers interested in the baking quaiity of 
gluten, than in the quantity of same. 

GLUTEN is composed of two substances —Gliadin 
and Glutenin. These two parts are quite different in 
character, but when wet, both cling together and 
form the gluten. 

Glutenin is more granular and tough and rubbery, 
and of a- gray dead color. 

Gliadin is more sticky, and acts like glue in binding 
together the particles of the glutenin and is of a creamy 
or greenish color. The proper composition which 
makes the best gluten (viz.—that which gives the 
most expansion and best color in bread) is 60 to 
65% gliadin and 35 to 40% glutenin. In the flour from 
soft or winter wheats the average ratio is 70 and 30% 
Bread made from flour deficient in gliadin has poor 
expansion powers; but when the percentage of gliadin 
is in excess, the dough will relax, get softer and sticky 
during fermentation. 

If the total gluten amount in a flour is smaller, but 
its character or quality is good, the bread baked from 
such flour may be as good or better than that from 
a flour containing more gluten. 

If the total gluten amount in a flour i*s excessively 
large^ it does not follow that the bread made from it 
is lighter, larger or better; rather the reverse. The 
quality of the gluten which gives it its high value in 
bread making is found principally in its ability to en¬ 
tangle and hold the gas. (See Fermentation.) 

EXTRACTING GLUTEN. Weigh 50 grams of 
flour into a cup and mix with 27 grams of water. 
This will make a medium stiff dough. Weigh off 50 
grams of this dough and set aside in a cup of water 



16 


Part 3 


for 20 to 30 minutes. Then start working it in a 
basin of cool water between the fingers of both hands. 
The starch separates from the dough and by repeated 
washings with fresh water, all the gluten is finally 
obtained, as a rubber-like mass. Keep on working and 
rolling it in your hands and pulling it, drying your 
h-ands frequently on a towel to get all the moistures 
out of it. 

Some bakers wash the gluten under a light stream 
of punning water, keeping on until the water runs off 
clear; but it is ad.visable to have a sieve below your 
faucet lined with silk bolting cloth (about No. 16) to 
catch any particles of gluten, which may break off 
during washing. 

For beginners it is advisable to fold up a piece of 
boiling cloth (not too fine) or muslin into a little 
bag, put the piece of dough inside and start washing 
as above, by squeezing the dough continually. This 
method is the only one you can use in washing out 
gluten from a piece of fermented sponge or dough, as 
you must use water below 45 degrees, or even ice 
water, because the glutenin has been softened so much 
and gliadin in old sponges is about all gone during 
fermentation. In fact water should never be warmer 
than 65 degrees for washing out glutens, unless the 
gluten is very tough and strong, as in the “straight’^ 
flour when it may be 70 degrees. 

For washing out just flour samples doughed up, 
the water should not be too cold either, otherwise you 
chill the gluten and it gets stringy. Here is where many 
bakers and millers and even chemists make a mistake, 
as they do not regulate the temperature of the water 
according to the quality or strength of the gluten. You 
try this yourself. Start washing with properly tem¬ 
pered water, then change into a warm or even tepid 
water, and in a few seconds you will feel the gluten 
break up into little strings and curdles, and you never 
recover it again. Then wash another piece in water of 
65 degrees until you have part of the starch removed, 




Part 3 


17 


when you take it into water of 38 or 40 degrees, so 
you can hardly keep your hand in it. You will notice 
the gluten shrivel up like a piece of rope or in strings, 
and unless you put it back into a warmer water you can 
not get it smooth and to hold together. 

Now, after you have all the gluten you possibly can 
exact by washing it carefully, form it into a solid 
little ball and weigh accurately. Then place it on a 
piece of strong tough paper (about 2 inches square) 
and put away until you have the other samples ready, 
when you bake them on a strong level pan. I get best 
results when baking gluten in an oven filled with 
bread, or at least at same temperature as bread. Be¬ 
fore baking it take notice of color and firmness of 
gluten and keep record of same. 

For other characteristics and effect of color of wet 
gluten on the quaHty also see “Practical Flour Tests.” 

EXPANSION TEST OF GLUTEN. An apparatus 
to test the expansive power of gluten has been invented 
by Mr. C. M. Foster. The accompanying illustration of 
this gluten “tester” will be of interest to bakers who 
are not acquainted with it. It is made of metal, consists 
of two cylinders of like diameter, each 8 inches long. 
One gluten sample is placed in each cylinder, the same 
fitted on the little bowl and the piston inserted with a 
certain weight on top of it. The pistons are then 
fastened down by pressing down the lever as shown 
in illustration, and the apparatus is ready to go into 
the oven. The chemists generally have a small electric 
oven, but I get best results by placing it in one of our 
regular bread ovens; I even prefer to have it in with 
an oven full of bread, as this is the right temperature. 
The moisture in the washed gluten as it becomes 
heated, is converted into steam, expands the gluten 
and forces up the pistons. Gluten of the greatest 
elasticity will force the piston highest, making it pos¬ 
sible to obtain a record in inches of expansion of 
glutens from like quantities of different flours. I 



18 


Part 3 



Foster’s Gluten Tester, showing the parts. Fig. 2.—^Tester, containing baked gluten. 
























Part 3 




19 


always use the amount of wet gluten washed from 50 
grams of dough. (See Practical Gluten Tests.) 

I generally leave it in the oven 20 minutes, which 
is sufficient to bake gluten from Patent flours. But 
some Kansas glutens get too dry and too dark in 
that time, while glutens from “straight’ or “clears” 
take longer. Some of the latter come up very quick, 
but have not sufficient power to hold the weight up 
and they settle again. In the photograph (Fig. 2)> 
I show two such samples, after they came from the 
oven. The gluten in cylinder B weighed over 3 
grams more than the gluten in cylinder A, and B also 
raised quicker and as high as A, but B fell, lacking 
the power of upholding the weight, which is equivalent 
to the gas pressure in the loaf during baking. A is a 
“Spring Patent,” B is a “Straight.” 

There is a further characteristic of the gluten. If 
you watch different gluten samples in the oven, during 
baking, those popping up first will soon stop or fall 
back, while the glutens from the best patents generally 
raise slow but sure, and never settle. 

In figure 3, I reproduce samples of gluten from 
different grades of flour, baked in Foster’s apparatus. 

A. Gluten from 60 percent Spring Patent. Shows 
good strong fibre and light brown color. 

B. Gluten from 60 percent Kansas Hard Winter 
Patent (middlings.) Expansion very good, but fibre 
not so strong and tough; more brittle and glossy, and 
color is dark reddish brown. 

C. Gluten from Second Spring Patent (about 75 
percent). Fibre and shape strong and solid. Color 
good rich brown. 

D. Gluten from Kansas Hard wheat Patent. 
About 70 percent. Expansion was good but as shown 
in photo it settled some, fibre being more delicate and 
brittle; break up very easy. Color a good deep, rich 
brown with reddish tint. Very glossy. 




20 


Part 3 






Fig. 3.—GLUTENS, WASHED FROM DIFFERENT FLOURS. 

A, Gluten, from First Spring Patent. B, Gluten from Kansas Patent. C, Gluten from Longer Spring 
Patent. D, Gluten from Kansas Patent. E, Gluten from Clear Spring Flour. 



Part 3 


21 


E. Gluten from a clear, such as used in Rye mix. 
Fibre very tough, and outside crust not hard or brittle; 
rubbery. Color a dead grayish brown. 

I will refer again to these samples in Part 4, on 
Dough Making. 

COMPARING GLUTEN (Fig. 4). The accompany¬ 
ing photographic reproduction of six samples of baked 
glutens illustrates the different characteristics, as well 









Fig. 4.—Samples of Baked Gluten. 

No. 1, Clear (for Rye Mix). No.2, Kansas. No. 3. Fancy Spring Patent. 
No, 4, Standard Brand Minnesota Spring Patent. No. 3, Washed 
out of Gluten Flour. No. 6, Blend of Nos. 2 , 3 and 4. 

as the percentage of gluten contained in the different 
brands of flour. Each sample is from two ounces 
of the flour named. No. 1, shows the gluten from 
“clear” or Rye Mix; No. 2, that from Kansas Flour; 
No. 3, from Fancy Minnesota Spring Patent; No. 4, 
from Standard Brand Spring Patent; No. 5, washed 
out of Gluten Flour; No. 6, from a blend of the Nos. 
2, 3, and 4 flour. 







22 


Part 3 


You will notice that No. 1 hardly raised at all, 
although the original piece before baking was 10 per¬ 
cent larger than No. 3 or 4. It had raised some first, 
but fell again. This shows that the quantity or per¬ 
centage of gluten alone in any flour does not count 
for much, if it lacks in strength. This gluten can be 
made to raise some, however, but requires a slower 
heat and longer time to bake than the others. 

No. 2 is taken from a Kansas Hard Winter Patent 
flour of exceptionally rich gluten. This gluten has also 
a good spring, but it will be observed that it does not 
come up as uniform and round on bottom as the Min¬ 
nesota Spring Patent, or the sample from gluten flour. 
It also has a reddish, glossy color, which is noticeable 
by the light shading. This is characteristic of most 
Kansas flours. 

No. 3 indicates a very high quality of gluten, com¬ 
pared with the gluten from “gluten flour” (No. 5). 
It also has a rich, brown color, and tender smooth sur¬ 
face, which will be noticed on the crust of any loaf 
of bread baked from such high grade flour. 

No. 4 is taken from one of the most popular brands 
of Standard Spring Patent flour, milled for the bakers’ 
trade. It is a good strong and evenly balanced gluten, 
but not quite as rich in color as Nos. 3 and 5. 

No. 5 is washed out of a sample of flour sold as 
Gluten Flour. The amount of gluten recovered 
is much larger than that from any of the 
other flours; but is shows up hardly any larger than 
glutens from many first spring patents. The main 
object of the manufacturer of gluten flour is to pro¬ 
duce the largest possible amount of gluten in his flour. 

No. 6 is taken from a blend as follows: No. 3, 
25 percent; No. 4, 50 percent; No. 2, 25 percent. 

It will be noticed that the Kansas Gluten in the mix 
shows in the light spot, which is of a lighter reddish 
shading. It also was not quite baked, when the samples 
were taken from the oven and settled a little. This 



Part 3 


23 


indicates that the dough made from this blend can 
stand a little more time before being knocked down, 
and also before taken to the bench, and it also requires 
a little more time in baking. 

By careful study of such comparisons of baked 
gluten, you run occasionally against some surprises in 
in finding some cheaper flour making a valuable blend 
with higher priced flours. Do not be deceived by the 
good showing of the sample of Kansas gluten No. 2). 
as not all Kansas flour shows up like this one; and 
this sample was not from the highest priced Kansas 
flour out of a selection of three or four either. 

It has often appeared to me that the majority of 
millers do not pay sufficient attention to the character 
of the gluten in their brands of bakers’ patent flour. 
I have often noticed that the same brand of flour does 
not always produce similar samples of baked glutens, 
although the percentage of wet gluten may be the 
same. The millers’ statement of how large a percent¬ 
age of gluten his flour contains is of no consequence to 
me, as I form my conclusions only after comparing 
the baked sample with other samples. 

The flavor also varies considerably in baked gluten 
and gives us some idea of flavor the bread produced 
from such flour will have. However, I believe that 
the only marked effect gluten has on flavor in bread, 
is in the crust. Therefore the efficiency of a baket 
in gluten-testing makes him a good judge of flour and 
will surely save him some money. 

How often does a baker condemn the flour or yeast, 
when his bread does not come out right, although he 
thinks he used everything the same as usual. With a 
few careful tests he may find that by changing the 
proportions of different flour in his blend, or by 
giving dough more or less time than usual, he will 
obtain the same results as before. Besides the char¬ 
acter of the gluten, the study of gas and heat developed 
in the doughs during fermentation, is very important, 
as demonstrated in Part 4. 



Part 3 


24 


Behavior of Gluten in Sponge and Dough. In 
Figure 5 we find an interesting study of the gluten left 
in dough and sponges. As previously mentioned, the 
gluten changes or softens in the dough during fer¬ 
mentation and if one is able to recover any gluten at all, 
the same has to be placed in a little linen or bolting 
cloth bag and washed in ice water or water not over 
45 degrees F. The same blend of flour has been used 
in all of these doughs, also the same amount as in 
the gluten tests from unfermented flour, namely 50 
grams—with the exception of the glutens A, B, and C, 
washed from dough where I allowed 5 grams extra 
dough, the extra 5 grams being allowance for sugar, 
lard, salt, etc., used in the dough, besides the flour 
and water. Now it will be seen in the illustration, 
much plainer than by any chemist’s analysis, how the 
gluten is lost during the different stages of fermenta¬ 
tion. 

A. The gluten washed from a straight dough 
after it stood for 5 hours and was ready for mould¬ 
ing into loaves. This gluten has a rich dark color 
and almost as strong expansion as the gluten from 
same amount of unfermented flour. In weight it 
lost a little more—about 5 percent. The darker color 
towards the top, I charge to the presence of sugar 
and ether extract (shortening). 

B. Gluten from a Vienna sponge dough. This 
sample was nearly 10 percent less in weight, due to the 
gluten dissolved by acids in the sponge. But the ex¬ 
pansion is nearly as good in proportion, as from un¬ 
fermented gluten. 

C. Gluten from a dough made with an older 
sponge (8 hour). Loss in weight through acids iii 
sponge about 25 percent; but the loss in expansion is 
not so large in proportion. 

D. Gluten from Vienna sponge (4^2 hours). This 
sponge shows about 30 percent loss in weight due to 
action of acids. Expansion is getting weaker, color is 
almost gray, and it is plainly seen in the illustration 



Part 3 


25 



A, Gluten washed from a straight dough. B, Gluten washed from a "short time” sponge dough. C, Gluten 
washed from an "old sponge” dough. D, Gluten washed from a 4V^-hour sponge (Vienna). 

E, Gluten washed from an old sponge (8 hours). 



26 


Part 3 


that the loss is mainly in gliadin, the gluten being 
much tougher and irregular in shape. 

E. Gluten from old sponge (8 hours old). The 
size shows a loss in wet gluten of nearly 50 percent 
compared with sample A, due to the action of increased 
acidity, and expansion is very weak. The color is a 
dark, dead, ash gray, indicating that nearly all the 
gliadin has disappeared. 

From this illustration (Fig. 5) we form the con¬ 
clusion that the longer fermentation reduces the gliadin 
content. We know that some flours require a longer 
fermentation than others to produce a good loaf of 
bread, and hence the same method of bread making 
does not produce the same results with all flours, all 
because of the difference in the composition of the 
gluten in the various flours. 

However, I can not see how dry gluten percent 
is of any particular advantage to the baker. Give me 
any piece of gluten washed out carefully and baked in 
any oven heated for bread baking, and I will tell the 
kind of flour it came from, and the kind of bread it 
will produce. You can judge the character of a 
gluten much better when baked; color, fibre, shape, ex¬ 
pansion, etc. 

The wet gluten is approximately three times the 
amount of dry gluten, so by multiplying the amount of 
dry gluten given by three, gives a very fair percentage 
of the wet gluten. 

The chemical laboratories determine and compute 
the gluten content in flour now mostly by chemical 
process, giving the percentage as dry gluten. Even 
when washing out the gluten, it is often dried at about 
200 degrees F and weighed again as “dry” gluten. 

The quantity of dry gluten in a flour varies from 7 
to 15 percent, according to the grade of flour The glu¬ 
ten content is influenced by the locality—the wheat 
from different states showing distinct variations. It is 
also influenced by the season, and is different in spring 
and winter wheats. 



Part 3 


27 


As already shown, the quality of gluten also differs; 
some is soft, sticky and easily tears when stretched 
like rotten rubber. In better flours it is firm, elastic 
and stretches like the best of rubber. 

Spring flours show a higher gluten percent than 
soft winter flour. However, the Kansas Hard Winter 
Patent compare of late years very favorable with 
Spring Patents in percentage and quality of gluten. 
But it requires, as a rule, more care and understanding 
how to handle the doughs and fermentation. 

BURETTES, SCALES. To get satisfactory re¬ 
sults out of any flour or gluten tests, reliable weight 
and measures are a necessity. The most practical 
outfit is the metric system, and it is surely simple 
enough for any baker to master or comprehend. The 
unit of weight is the gram, usually abbreviated to grm. 
The unit measure for liquids (for all technical pur¬ 
poses) is the cubic centimeter, shortened to c. c. 

The measure of a c. c. of water, weighs one gram; 
hence if we weigh 100 grams of flour and it takes up 
60 c. c. of water, that constitutes the percent of 
water absorption (60 percent). This is very simple, 
to be sure. Then, if you have only 50 grms. of flour 
you multiply the number of c. c. of water it took, 
(say 29 c. c.) by 2 and you have the precentage, i. e. 
29X2=58 percent of water absorption; if 200 grms. 
of flour are used, divide the amount of water (number 
of c. c.) by 2; i. e. 200 grms. flour and 124 c. c. of 
water—124-^2=62 percent of water, and so on. The 
simple instrument for the exact measuring of water, 
which every baker can afford to possess, is called a 
burette. It is a long thin glass tube, with stopper and 
delivery tube at the bottom to regulate the flow of 
water. The tube is accurately marked to hold a cer¬ 
tain number c. c. of water, say, 50, 70 or 100 c. c., 
and the graduation of each c. c. is marked carefully 
on the tube, 100 c. c. measure a trifle more than 3^ 
ounces (3.52 fluid ounces) and 28.35 grams equal one 
ounce. 



28 


Part 3 


Now, to get the gram weight of small samples of 
flour and exact weight of gluten, a small accurate 
balance (scale) is another handy apparatus. It should 
be equipped to weigh as small amount as one-tenth of 
gram (decigram). However, if a baker does not 
possess any burette or metric balance, he can take two 
ounces of flour and a trifle over one ounce of water for 
his gluten tests. 

LABORATORY TEST OF FLOURS. 

I recently sent ten diflferent samples of flour to a 
well known laboratory for analysis to use them in com¬ 
parison with my practical tests, which I have made 
with samples of the same flour. The report is re¬ 
produced in this chapter. The samples I sent were 
only numbered, no brand or name of flour they were 
taken from was mentioned. 

The top line gives the analysis of a high grade 
Spring Patent, used by this laboratory as their stand¬ 
ard. 

Notes referring to table: 

No. 1. High priced fancy Patent, extensively ad¬ 
vertised for family trade. 

No. 2. Well known brand of Bakers^ Spring 
Patent. 

No. 3. Medium priced Northern Bakers’ Spring 
Patent. 

No. 4. One of the best known Short Spring 
Patents. (Bakers’ brand.) 

No. 5. A strong Bakers’ Hard Spring Second 
Patent. 

No. 6. Same as No. 4. (Family brand.) 

No. 7. Highest priced fancy Kansas Patent. 

No. 8. Kansas Hard Winter Patent. 

No. 9.‘ Another well known Kansas Middling 
Short Patent. 

No. 10. Kansas Turkey Hard Wheat Flour, me¬ 
dium priced. 



LABORATORY TEST OF FLOURS. 


Part 3 


29 



Moisture . . 

Q\ts-vOo — OO — NOr>.CT\ 
<N«— CSCN — coo — — 

H 

Quality of 
Gluten 

OvOvOOvDOvDOOcS'O 

O <N CN rr GO* 00 CO o’ 00 00 

O Qs O' 0^ O O O' 

-1 

Ferment¬ 
ing Period 

OOOO'COO'COCOOOOCO 
• •••••••••• 

Ot^i^m — m — \00 — — 
OOOOOOOOOOO 


Average 

Value 

oooq»o\OvOo<Nfvir%’^ 

oor^odo'i^O'Ooooda' 

OOoO'O'O'O'OO'OnO' 

'"I 

Quality of 
Loaf 

OOOiomOcor>iooo 

ooododo'oda'O'r^odo' 

O O O' O' O' O' O' O' O' O' O' 


Size of 

Loaf 

ooooooooooo 
• •••••••••• 

ooooooooooo 

ooooooooooo 


Loaves 
per Bbl. 

OOO'^OoO'^rcNOOCNOO'O 

• ••••••••«• 

O — coc<^ — rsirf — — — CO 

ooooooooooo 

Q ■ 

Color .... 

OOOioOOOmOOO 

OO' — C'ir^OOO''^inin 
O O' O' O' O' O' O' O' O' O' O' 

u ■ 

1 Absorption 
' per cent 

f'JinvDf^^'OO'^O'^tnoO 

vOvO'O'O'OsOvOvO'OvO'O 

CQ ■ 

1 Ash 
[ per cent 

(NCNCO^OitJ-sOtJ- — 

<■ 

1 Gluten 

1 per cent 

OOOOO'^CO'^COC'IO'^CO 
— CNOlCvl — CN — O — — — 

SAMPLE 

-TJ . . . . . 

TO*— csco'^invOf^ooo'O 
^ — 

rtd. -------- 

05 Z. 


























































30 


Part 3 


No. 1, figures more gluten than the standard, but 
quality of the gluten is poorer by nearly 8 percent. 
Acording to the ash percentage this flour figures a 
very short or fancy Patent, and quality of loaf is equal 
to standard (100) although poor quality of gluten 
would seem to lower its value. 

No. 2, also shows the same percentage of gluten 
as No. 1. The very large percent of ash (21 points 
more than No. 1) proves this to be a much longer 
Patent; color is poor, which is only natural considering 
the large amount of ash. 

No. 3. Percentage of ash and color figure chis 
medium Patent belonging between No. 1 and No. 2, 
but quality of gluten is given a higher percentage. 

No. 4. Although gluten percent is smaller than in 
either No. 1, 2 or 3, the quality is considerably better; 
color and every other item compares very favorable 
with the standard. 

No. 5. In every respect about the same commer¬ 
cial value as No. 3, all the different comparisons being 
nearly the same. 

No. 6. In every respect about the same as No. 4. 
The large absorption is accounted for by the lower 
moisture content. 

No. 7. The analysis of this flour is remarkable in 
several ways. Although the gluten percent is the 
smallest of all samples, the quality of same is also 
superior, including the standard. Ash content is also 
lower than the standard, which also accounts for 
shorter fermenting period. 

No. 8. In ash contents, this Kansas flour would 
figure as a medium patent; gluten content is the aver¬ 
age of a good Kansas, but the quality of same shows 
better than the average. 

No. 9. Although the quality of the gluten is some¬ 
what below No. 8, the average value of the flour and 
quality of loaf is figured higher than No. 8. This 



Part 3 


31 


result is undoubtedly due to its smaller ash content 
and better color. 

No. 10, shows up better than No. 8 and 9 in most 
every respect. The remarkable low moisture naturally 
means a larger absorption. 

As general summing up, it is shown that the fer¬ 
menting period is governed by the amount of gluten 
which every flour contains, and also by the quality of 
the gluten. That flour which contains the largest 
amount of gluten will generally require the most fer¬ 
mentation to get it ready for baking. This may be 
obtained in two ways; by giving dough more time and 
using the same amount of yeast, or by using more yeast 
and giving the usual time. 

NOTE—The best guide the baker has in choosing which of these two 
methods to employ is the acid test given under heading of Practical Tests. 
If flours with a large acid content, such as 2 and 5 (see Practical Tests), 
are given a long fermenting period the acid fermentation will increase too 
rapidly, as the alcoholic fermentation slows up, and the result is sour bread. 
In a case of this kind it is advisable to use more yeast, to hasten fermenta¬ 
tion, rather than give the dough more time. This is really a necessary test 
to make in conjunction with the laboratory test to find ont the nature of the 
acids and ferments of the flour. The laboratories can furnish a report on 
acid content in a flour, but from it the baker can not quite judge the effect 
it will have on a large dough. This simple yet practical method of dough- 
ing up a small amount of flour and allowing it to stand twenty-four hours, 
will show him to what extent the acid contained in his flour will affect the 
larger doughs. 


PRACTICAL FLOUR TESTS. 

On the following plates (I and II) you will And 
illustrations of my own practical tests carried on with 
the same ten flours used in the laboratory or chemical 
tests shown on above table. 

Plate I, shows samples 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 

Plate II, shows samples 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 

These numbers correspond with the numbers of the 
laboratory analysis. 

The top line on both plates show the bahed gluten 
of the different samples. 





32 


Part o 



PLATE I* PRACTICAL FLOUR TESTS.. ^Top line showing G/u/en; second line showing Co/or; bottom line showing 







Part 3 


33 



PLATE n. PRACTICAL FLOUR TESTS.—Top line showing Gluten; second line showing Color; bottom line thovAng Acidity. 







34 


Part 3 


The second line shows the small pieces of dough, 
each taken from the same dough that the correspond¬ 
ing gluten was washed from. 

The bottom line shows acid ferments in flour after 
standing 20 to 24 hours. 

From the color of these pieces of dough I judge 
the color of the flour and make a note of same. Taking 
notice of the color again in about 24 hours you can 
judge the value of the flour as to color of the crumb 
in the baked loaf. In some flours the change is quite 
noticeable, changing to gray or brown. I And these 
color tests more reliable than the customary dipping 
test. After 24 hours a hard crust has formed on the 
outside of each of these pieces, but you will And on each 
a blister-like eruption formed on the side as seen in 
the illustrations. Now the large pieces are pulled 
away from the smaller blisters, gently. During the 
24 hours a chemical change has taken place inside of 
these pieces of dough, a kind of spontaneous fermen¬ 
tation, the acid bodies in the flour also having more 
or less acted upon the gluten. Some can be pulled 
away in long strings without breaking, which indicates 
a richer gluten and a well balanced acid content. 
Others will break short and in a solid mass, which 
indicates stronger acids and more ash. Some very 
strong second patents or straights will hardly have 
anything left but the thick shell, the inside having 
been all eaten up or decomposed by acid ferments, and 
a disagreeable sharp smell is also noticeable in some 
cases. By comparing these different samples with the 
laboratory analysis, you will^ in most cases, find that 
the characteristics pointed out in the practical tests 
correspond with the percentages of the laboratory re¬ 
ports. However, I frequently find that my practical 
tests give a better indication of the actual value or 
working properties of a flour, when made into large 
doughs. 

We will now explain the preparation of the samples 
of gluten and dough shown on Plate I and II. 




Part 3 


35 


Starting with flour No. 1, the same process is re¬ 
peated with the others, seeing that the right number is 
attached to each sample. Of course when so many 
samples are to be made, as in this case, we only mix 
up five at one time, washing out the gluten of those 
first and while they bake, proceed with mixing the 
others. 

Method of preparing samples: 50 grams flour and 
27 cc. water are mixed into a smooth dough, using 
same utensils and same method as mentioned in 
gluten tests. Have water same temperature you would 
use in a large dough to make it 83 or 84 degrees when 
mixed. 

Next, 50 grams of this dough are weighed off and 
set aside to soak from 20 to 30 minutes in a cup or 
beaker of cool water. The starch is then washed from 
the gluten. 

In the meantime the remaining piece of dough is 
kneaded into a little oblong roll (as shown on Plates 
I and II, second line) and set on a smooth slab of 
wood or glass. These little pieces of dough are placed 
in a warm place (83 to 85 degrees F.) for 20 to 24 
hours. But as they must be guarded against draft, 
it is best to have a small box made to place them in, 
leaving one side or top open. Now having all reports 
and samples before us in the illustrations, we will 
compare the results. 

SAMPLE No. 1. The baked gluten (top line, 
Plate I) shows a good brown color and not many 
blisters but not having expanded quite round and 
symmetrical, indicates the presence of some fancy, soft 
Winter or short, rich Kansas Hard Winter Patent. 
The wet gluten weighs 16.40 grams, or 44 percent. 
The color of same is a creamish yellow with greenish 
streaks, it runs some but is not sticky. The second line 
(Plate I) shows good color, cream white; the acidity 
of the dough (see bottom line) indicates some healthy 
acid ferments, but the strings running together into 



36 


Part 3 


a sweaty, solid mass, shows weakness of gluten which 
again points to presence of winter flour. 

Comparing both the chemical or laboratory analysis 
and practical test, the results of both show this flour 
to be of a better value to the housewife for general 
baking than the baker. He can get lower priced flours 
and blend them to get same results or same quality 
flour for less money. 

SAMPLE No. 2. The baked gluten has a dark 
brown, glossy color, which together with the thin, 
irregular, puffed-up shape indicates a large percentage 
of gliadin in the gluten, but the total gluten content 
being very large also leaves sufficient glutenin to hold 
it up after a very large expansion. This makes the 
gluten more valuable to the baker. Wet gluten weighs 
16.5 grms. (44 percent), is grayish yellow with dark 
green spots, feels very firm and tough, but after stand¬ 
ing awhile softens down. But as shown on second line 
Plate I, the color is off considerable, being a dark 
grayish brown which indicates large ash content. This 
flour is better for a blend with a better colored, shorter 
Spring or Winter Patent. This is all the more advis¬ 
able on account of the strong acid ferments (shown 
on bottom line, Plate I). The dough breaks off short, 
the acid ferments in the flour having eaten up or 
dissolved most all the gluten. This flour is really 
worth more money to the baker than the laboratory re¬ 
port indicates and I have used thousands of barrels of 
it in the last two years with the best results in our 
blend. 

SAMPLE No. 3. Baked gluten shows up fairly 
good and uniformly balanced; wet gluten, 15.9 grm. 
(43.8 percent) ; color a deep yellow with greenish 
streaks. Works firm and tough and does not soften 
very much. 

Second line (Plate I) shows dough of good cream 
color, little dark, and when pulled apart (see bottom 
line) shows healthy acid ferments and a fair strength 



Part 3 


37 


for gluten. Comparing my practical test with the 
laboratory analysis both reports give this flour about 
the same value as a fair Bakers’ medium Spring Patent. 

SAMPLE No. 4. As shown on Plate I, (top line) 
the gluten in this flour is perfectly balanced in glutenin 
and gliadin which gives a uniform expansion and good, 
rich, brown color. Although the wet gluten is less 
than some of the other samples, weighing only 13 
grams. (40.1 percent), it makes up in expansion and 
quality. This gluten is very elastic and firm, does not 
soften or run flat and has a rich cream color with 
greenish tint and green streaks. This is equal to 100 
percent or perfect. Color of dough (second line) 
is clear, rich cream. This is also good for 100 percent. 
The piece of dough on bottom line shows a firm shell 
with large even eruption on one side, and when pulled 
apart, the dough shows a number of tough, rubbery 
strings, which are very elastic and withstood the 
attacks of the acids very effectively. I consider the 
acidity sufficiently strong and healthy to assist perfect 
fermentation and produce a good flavor. 

The laboratory analysis on this flour corresponds 
almost in every item with my practical test. This is 
the flour I have used as my “Standard’' for the last 
two years. 

SAMPLE No. 5. The baked gluten points to a 
rather long or second hard Northern Patent flour, in¬ 
dicated by its greenish gray, dull color and thick, 
tough shell, which together with the more solid fibrous 
interior, indicates an overbalance of glutenin. The 
wet gluten weight is very large, 14.4 grms. (44 per¬ 
cent), but as may be expected, is of very poor color, 
a grayish yellow, with deeper, nearly brown spots. 
No sign of a greenish tint. 

As may be expected, color of dough (see second 
row, Plate 1) is also poor, a dead ash gray. Broken 
open (see bottom row) the crust appears to be very 
thick and the large blister formed by the acid ferments, 



38 


Part 3 


indicates strong acidity, but nevertheless the gluten 
is tough enough to withstand the attack of the same, 
as plainly seen in illustration. This flour is all right 
to use in a blend with a short Spring or Kansas Patent 
of good color and rich flavor, or a soft Winter. 

SAMPLE No. 6. As already mentioned in lab¬ 
oratory analysis, this sample is same brand of flour as 
No. 4, only this is the Family Brand. Color of dough 
is a trifle whiter than No. 4, and acidity a little stronger 
which shows plainly on Plate II, bottom row. 

I SAMPLE No. 7. This is the most remarkable 
sample in the lot. The baked gluten is smaller than 
any of the others, but in consideration of the small per¬ 
centage of wet gluten, 11.5 grms. (35.5 percent) the 
expansion is not bad. The color of baked gluten is 
a delicate, even, golden shade, and the shell and in¬ 
terior is exceptionally mellow and tender but not brittle 
or glassy. The wet gluten has that rich, creamy, yellow 
color, and after standing a while, light greenish streaks 
appear over the top. It feels mellow but dry and stands 
up firm and well rounded. The dough (second row, 
Plate II) has that rich, clear creamy color and feels 
very elastic but mellow and tender. The acid ferments 
in this flour are not very active, but their presence is 
noticeable when you break the piece of dough open. 
The interior presents a rich, stringy mass, softened 
and mellowed by the ferments, but has a healthy, 
pleasant smell. In comparing the practical test with 
the laboratory analysis, the reports are very similar, 
and although gluten content is remarkably smaller 
than in any of the other samples, the quality of the 
gluten and the quality of loaf in every respect, es¬ 
pecially the color and flavor, stand out even above the 
standard. This is the flour I have for years re¬ 
ferred to as the nearest to the celebrated Hungarian 
Kaisermehl, and I know a number of bakers who keep 
this flour as a special fancy brand to use for French 
and Vienna bread and rolls, or as a blend especially 
for its fine flavor. 



Part 3 


39 


SAMPLES No. 8, 9 and 10. These are all three 
good Kansas hard winter wheat Patents and compare 
very favorably with the average Spring , Patents. 
However you will notice from the appearance of the 
baked glutens (top row Plate II, No, 8, 9 and 10) 
the characteristics of most Kansas hard winter wheat 
flours, that the gluten in baking expands more or less 
irregular, breaking out in very thin, glassy blisters, 
which will either burst or shrink soon after the gluten 
is taken from oven. They show good expansion in 
oven, but are of a foxy reddish color. Wet gluten= 
No. 8—13.5 grms. (41.0 percent) ; No. 9—13.6 grams. 
(41.9 percent) ; No. 10—13.8 grms. (42.2 percent). 

(For further explanation see chapter on gluten.) 

Color of these Kansas flours is fair, only more of 
a pinkish cream than the Spring Patents. Acidity is 
quite strong, but the natural ferments in the flour are 
not so active as in most Spring Patents. The acids 
work more on the gluten which would suggest a 
shorter fermentation period and different handling of 
the dough. 

STORAGE AND AGING OF FLOUR 

In Europe the larger bakers kept their flour supply 
in the top floor, called the “Mehlboden.” The differ¬ 
ent grades are dumped into large separate bins, first 
being sifted. The rooms are well ventilated, airy 
and lofty. The floors are laid with tile. The flour 
is frequently turned over and stirred up with large 
wooden shovels; this is of great benefit, especially 
in aging newly milled flours and flour milled as soon 
as new crop wheat is harvested. Flour stored in bags 
should be changed at least once a month and not piled 
over eight bags high and rows kept apart to allow for 
circulation of fresh air. 

Referring to sifting flour, before storing it; that 
will help considerably to improve new flour. If there 
are no bins where it can be kept and stirred, it may 



40 


Part 3 


be put into barels after sifting. This suggestion con¬ 
cerns the small baker as well who has little room or 
not the means to lay in more than a week’s supply. 
If only one or two days’ suply is sifted ahead, it will 
be an improvement. 

Some bakers keep their flour over the hot ovens 
to age it quicker. I do not approve of that; or, at 
least, it should not be allowed to get too warm, and 
must frequently be changed around. I know many 
large bakers who do not hesitate at any expense for 
the latest machinery and improvement, but shy at the 
expense of a cheap extra laborer in the flour room 
to change the flour frequently. They do not seem 
to want to recognize the fact, that the extra expense 
of a few dollars a week for labor will improve their 
flour tenfold that amount. 

I have stated before, that direct sunlight hurts the 
flour. Trouble with old flour, often begins when the 
new wheat begins to sprout in spring; in some years 
more than in others, some wheat will commence to 
sweat. Therefore, the flour milled from it acts older 
towards the end of the old crop, and I find that one 
month storage is the proper time as compared with 
two months within four months of harvest, and three 
months for flour milled from new wheat. 

Flour is also very susceptible in absorbing odors 
from things placed near it. For instance, place a basin 
of kerosene near some sacks of flour, or near a 
trough filled with flour, and you will discover in a 
few hours that the flour is tainted with a kerosene 
smell; paint and kalsamine have the same effect. Sul¬ 
phur fumes and chloride of lime, etc., will even effect 
the gluten. 




PART 4. 


Dough Making, Proper Tem¬ 
perature, Bread Formulas 
and Standards. 


DOUGH MAKING. 

SPONGE DOUGHS AND STRAIGHT 
DOUGHS. The method of making bread differs 
in various countries. In Germany and Austria 
the baker sticks to old-time “Sauer” and “Vorteig;” 
the French baker still makes his famous “pain 
de luxe” by setting a “pouliche” or batter first, 
or using the leaven (levain) left over from the day 
before, to start his doughs with. The Scotch baker 
thinks there is nothing like his “barm” or “quarter 
sponge;” the English baker likes his “ferments” or 
sponge doughs, although he is getting used to the 
straight dough system which he calls “off hand” 
dough; the progressive American baker thinks there 
is nothing like a “straight” dough. 

The system of first setting a sponge is no longer 
the prevailing method in the larger bakeries; sponge 
doughs are only used for hearth bread, such as Vienna 
and Rye and Hotel bread, Pullman, Snowflake, etc. 
But many of the smaller or retail bakers still cling 
to the old time “long” sponge, because they think it is 
more convenient. 

He sets his sponge in the evening at 8 o’clock, 
goes to bed and lets the sponge take care of itself 
until 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. He then makes 
a whole variety of doughs out of the one sponge, such 




2 


Part 4 


as Home-made, Vienna, Graham, Rolls, Coffee Cakes, 
Buns, and some even use it for Rye dough. 

However my advice to all is to discard this anti¬ 
quated method as much as possible, as it is against the 
laws of fermentation to hold a sponge or dough too 
long. The time when a sponge or dough is at its 
best, is very short. But where two or more kinds of 
bread and perhaps rolls must be made out of this 
sponge, my advice is to weigh out the amount of 
sponge needed for each dough, instead of first break¬ 
ing down the sponge with water needed for dough 
making and then dipping it out, as some old timers 
are still in the habit of doing. Sponges are called 
“short” sponges (3 to 6 hours) or “long” sponges (6 to 
10 hours), according to the length of time allowed them 
to get “ripe.” 

SPONGE DOUGHS. There are some advantages 
to the “sponge” method. A sponge dough requires only 
about half the amount of yeast than a straight dough. 
A sponge can stand a longer time when ripe, while a 
straight dough must be worked up when ready. 
Where “volume” or size of loaf is the main object, the 
sponge dough is the thing. 

Cheaper grades of flour, or stronger flour, can be 
used in sponges to better advantage. 

A sponge dough can be better regulated, especially 
when new, or when young flour is used. If the 
sponge comes slow or too fast, you can hasten 
or hold back the dough by regulating the tempera¬ 
ture of the water, and increasing or cutting the 
amount of salt. Or, if any extra order comes in, 
you can pour on more water. 

SHORT SPONGES are generally used for 
“Hearth” bread, such as Vienna and Rye, also Vienna 
and French rolls. Making a comparatively soft sponge, 
more water can be used than in a straight dough, be¬ 
sides you can develop a real good “nutty” flavor and 
get a better testing, crisp, tender crust on “Hearth” 




Part 4 


3 


bread than with a straight dough, at the same time 
using less sugar or yeast food, milk and shortening. 
A “short” sponge should only be allowed to break, or 
drop one time. 

Doughs from short sponges I do not mix as much 
as straight doughs. Some bakers use too much of 
the total liquid (water or milk) in the sponge, but I 
prefer to pour nearly as much on dough as on sponge. 
For instance, if I want a Vienna dough of 100 pounds 
of water, I set sponge with 60 pounds of water and 
pour on for dough at least 40 to 45 pounds. It makes 
a closer loaf. For short sponge doughs, let dough 
come up once until it starts to break, then knock 
down and let come half way again, no more. 

LONG SPONGES are used for Columbia, Hotel 
or Pullman and Cream Bread. They are made stiffer 
(say 13 to 15 pounds of flour to the gallon of water), 
and stand from 7 to 10‘ hours. Only about half as much 
yeast is required as in Straight doughs. 

For Cottage or Pan loaves made from long sponge 
dough, the dough is run through brake only six times 
but for Sandwich, Hotel and Pullman it requires 14 
or 15 times rolling. 

The oftener you roll such old sponge dough, the 
whiter the crumb and the higher the loaf will be. 

Long Sponge and Dough. The long sponge must 
be set stiffer, as it slackens considerable after stand¬ 
ing about 5 hours. It can be allowed to drop the 
second time, especially if the dough is run through the 
break. A large sponge requires less yeast (in propor¬ 
tion) than a small sponge. 

Care must be taken that a sponge is not disturbed 
after it is half raised as it falls by the least touch or 
knock. 

The time for a sponge to ripen can be lengthened by 
increasing or lowering the temperature of the water, 
or by using more or less yeast, or by using more or 
less flour thereby making the sponge tighter, stiffer, or 
slacker (softer). 



4 


Part 4 


When yeast is scarce, a little old or weak, you can 
make it stronger by making a small batter with the 
yeast, a few pints of warm water, a very little malt 
extract or malt powder and sufficient flour. Set this 
away for about 20 minutes, covered, in a warm place. 
Then set the sponge with it, adding the water and flour. 



Figure 1. 

No. 1, Loaf made of **short'* sponge process; No, 2, Loaf made with 
all the same ingredients except a “long” sponge is used. 


Why a dough made from a sponge produces a 
larger loaf, is principally due to the addition of the 
sugar or yeast food (malt extract), as well as the 
sugar or diastasis converted from the starch of the 
extra flour added in dough making. As we learned 
in Part 2, sugars produce alcohol and gas and as the 
dough after being made from the sponge only stands 
from one to one and a half hours, we get a fresh 





Part 4 


5 


healthy supply of food for the yeast and consequently 
rnore fresh gas production which means better expan¬ 
sion. furthermore, we have a new supply of gluten 
in the dough making. 

But, as we further know that the acidity increases, 
the longer fermentation is allowed to go on, the re¬ 
markable expansion power of a dough made from an 
old sponge of 7 to 9 hours, must be due, to a great 
extent, to ''acetous’' (acetic) ferments. (See Part 2.) 

To illustrate this fact, I refer to Figure 1, which 
shows a loaf of very large volume, and rich, healthy 
color and fine tender but crisp crust. Loaf No. I, is 
made from “short” sponge dough (4^4 hours), but 
sponge and dough being set rather soft. Size, color 
and flavor are very good and texture solid and even. 
Loaf No. 2 is made from a “long” (8-hour) sponge 
dough. However, as this sponge and dough have been 
set stiffer, the size of loaf shows to be smaller (same 
weight). It has a mild but not unpleasant acid flavor 
which, however, a great many people like. The crumb 
is of somewhat darker color, and more open, but not 
coarse or dry. 

Now I have tried in different ways to produce this 
loaf with a straight dough but found it impossible. It 
will get soft after it has been out of the oven for a 
while, no matter how hard baked, and it will never 
spring so high and round; it lacks that “bouncing” 
strength. I can use quite some second grade flour, and 
very little “dope”—sugar and shortening. The flour, 
gluten, yeast and natural acid ferments (sponge) do the 
work. I make another loaf, (cottage) from an old 
(8-hour) sponge of which we make from 5,000 to 7,000 
loaves a day, and although they weigh not heavier 
than our straight dough loaves—and I have tried to 
substitute the same shape loaf (double loaf) made 
from a much richer straight dough—some customers 
want that loaf, and they seem to like that slight acid 
flavor, in preference to the richer loaf. The only 
difficulty is, to get rich, brown colored crust, and I 
use a small amount of malt extract for this purpose. 





6 


Part 4 


A small amount of salt added to a sponge is to be 
recommended, especially when flour contains consider¬ 
able acidity and in “longer” sponges. I figure one to 
two ounces for every 25 pounds of water used in 
sponges, the larger amount in stiffer and older sponges. 

Short sponge doughs like Vienna do not re¬ 
quire so much salt as old sponge doughs. In damp and 
rainy weather, especially in close murky summer 
days, Hearth bread (like Vienna, Rye, Cornmeal and 
French) is likely to lose its crispness, and crust gets 
tough and rubbery, no matter how hard the bread is 
baked. This is due partly to the hydroscopic char¬ 
acter of the salt. My dough-mixers are instructed, 
whenever the weather changes as above mentioned, to 
cut down the amount of salt 1 to 2 ounces on every 
pound of salt used regularly. 

Bread made from sponge dough also does not re¬ 
quire as much sugar or shortening as straight dough 
and keeps moist and fresh longer. You can in fact, 
produce a good pan loaf with hardly any sugar or 
shortening from sponge dough, while a straight dough 
without sugar, shortening, malt or milk will make a 
mighty poor loaf of pan bread, even if a better grade 
of flour is used. Bread made from sponge dough has 
a more velvety feeling and is more spongy. One im¬ 
portant point to get best results from a sponge dough 
is to make and keep the dough warm; at least at 83 
degrees. Sponge can be set cooler as it warms up more 
than dough during fermentation. If sponge dough is 
too cold, say below 81 it will sweat and get sticky. The 
loaves lack expansion in oven, and flavor after being 
baked is not there. 

Some experts advocate to give sponges a very 
good mixing or beating, at fast speed, but I believe 
this is not only no advantage but detrimental. A 
sponge does not require so much air or oxygen, as the 
certain oxidizing processes during fermentation means 
more or stronger or too much acid formation, which 
weakens the gluten. I mix sponges very little and 





Part 4 


7 


leave to natural fermentation. Sponges must be broken 
up well first with the water, sugar, salt, malt, etc. 
before adding the flour for mixing the dough. 

If a sponge happens to get too warm (say 86 de¬ 
grees) for some reason, you will get rid of some of 
that fever heat by mixing the sponge first with part of 
the dough-water and salt, adding a few pounds of ice. 
After breaking it up, let stand a while before adding 
flour, etc. Pour on the rest of the, water gradually, 
by dipperfuls, adding to each dipper a handful of ex¬ 
tra salt. You will be surprised how the sponge gives 
out its heat. I compare an over-heated sponge or 
dough to a fever patient; the heat or fever can only 
be drawn out by ice and salt or ice water added grad¬ 
ually. If a sponge can not be worked off in time, for 
some unforseen reason, throw it into the mixer and add 
part of the water and salt, and give it a few turns to 
break it up; water must be colder than usual by several 
degrees, or in summer a few pieces of ice can be 
addedt as sponge warms the water. This will keep it 
fresh for some time. 

Never take a sponge too young, as no matter how 
long you let dough stand afterwards, it will work 
young and wet and bread will be small and heavy, 
coarse grained and dark. Any sponge must at least 
break before you can make the dough. If you have 
a piece of some older dough on hand, break it up with 
the sponge and mix dough a little softer, increasing 
the amount of salt also. 

STRAIGHT DOUGHS. One of the advantages 
of straight doughs over sponge doughs is the saving 
of time and labor, as all the ingredients are mixed 
at one time and length of fermentation can be con¬ 
trolled at will, according to amount of yeast used; 
however, best results as to sweetness and flavor, also 
texture, are obtained from straight doughs standing 
from 4^ to 6 hours. Straight doughs standing over 
6 hours will not make as good a loaf of bread, and they 
must be made stiffer. A straight dough needs more 





8 


Part 4 


mixing than a sponge dough, as the gluten must be 
stretched and worked more. The condition or change 
of weather does not effect a straight dough as readily 
as it will a sponge or sponge dough. 

A sweeter loaf and a loaf of fine texture can be 
made by the straight dough method; also a fine rich 
flavor can be imparted, but it requires considerable 
extra stimulants, such as sugar, malt, lard, milk, etc. 

I get best results by setting a short time ferment 
of yeast, prepared cornflour or flakes, malt and some 
water, as described in Fermentation. However, a 
straight dough must also be watched more closely. 
If knocked down too soon (first time) it will never 
have the same expansion and bread will be heavy and 
coarse. On the other hand, if it gets too old, the 
bread will be worse than from an old sponge dough 
and no mixing or coaxing along with extra yeast will 
improve it. 

You can take a small piece of old dough and use it 
as a leaven, freshening it over several times and you 
can build up a good fermentation that way, but you 
can not do it with a whole straight dough, if it has 
become sour. 

I used to believe in cutting over the straight doughs, 
but I came to the conclusion, that this destroys the 
flavor. I only have a dough cut over if it gets too 
warm or has to stand over its regular time. A straight 
dough should never be allowed to stand until it settles 
or falls. If flour is new or young, then you can cut 
dough over once, after first knock down. 

A straight dough should never be over 84 degrees 
when mixed, and it can be mixed at 78 degrees—but 
never lower, as explained before. 

Sweet Dough for Buns, Coffee Cakes and Rolls. 
The same rule applies here as stated before. The 
amount of material added to the flour, water and salt 
does not alone make the difference in quality. I prefer 
a straight dough for all sweet goods. For instance, 
you use a very fancy Spring patent flour and blend it 




Part 4 


9 


with 10 to 20 percent of rich soft Winter patent for 
sweet dough; you can save on sugar and shortening 
but may use more yeast. The same when you use pure 
milk or milk-powder, you can reduce the other im¬ 
provers. For all coffee cakes, especially when butter 
is used, the same should always be creamed up separate 
with part of the sugar and the eggs, and added to 
dough when it is partly mixed. This also applies to 
Hot Cross buns and all sweet bun doughs and rolls. 

Sweet doughs are also improved by making a 
batter of the malt (liquid or powder) with sufficient 
water and a few pounds of corn flakes or corn flour, 
and set it aside for 20 to 30 minutes, adding it when 
dough is partly mixed. 

PROPER TEMPERATURE. 

Is there anything as important as proper tem¬ 
perature in bread making? I say NO. And still 
there are so many diversions of opinion, that it is 
a hard matter to draw conclusions too close. Having 
explained the nature of yeast, flour, etc., and the cause 
and effect of fermentation, we come now to the actual 
work of dough making. The most important in¬ 
strument in the modern bakery, no matter how large 
or how small its output, is the thermometer. And not 
only one do we need, but several, as the success of our 
baking depends on the free use of this instrument. 
We need it:— 

1. To ascertain the outdoor temperature before 
we start work. 

2. To get the temperature of the bake room or 
mixing room. 

3. In the dough room and moulding room, the 
proofing room, and finally the ovens. In the dough 
room we ought to have two thermometers as the tem¬ 
perature near the floor and ceiling often differ several 
degrees. This affects dough in iron or steel troughs 
more of course than in wooden troughs. 



10 


Part 4 


4. To get temperature of flour every day. This 
should be done if possible after flour is blended and 
sifted. 

5. To regulate temperature of water correctly, as 
by this we regulate the temperature of the dough and 
this is of the greatest importance. 

6. To watch the temperature of the dough. The 
dough-thermometer is the most expensive one needed, 
but it pays to get the best, as I myself have tried 
cheaper substitutes. The up-to-date mixer or fore¬ 
man depends on his dough thermometer just as much 
as the physician depends on his little, delicate looking 
thermometer in watching his fever patient. 

HEAT CALCULATIONS IN DOUGH-MAKING. 

There have been a number of dif¥erent methods 
published from time to time for calculating the proper 
heat of the water required in dough-making to get 
the dough at the required temperature. The average 
baker has no time for theorizing, but he should make 
some effort to master some fundamental principles 
of natural laws and become able to carry out certain 
mental calculations. Heat calculations are certainly 
of vital importance in dough-making, as they effect 
fermentation and proofing more than anything else. 
The best of flour and the purest, strongest yeast can 
be spoiled by the baker if he abuses them through 
■extreme temperatures in mixing his dough either too 
cold or too warm. Therefore, it is essential that we 
first find out the meaning of the term. 

Specific Heat. The principles of Heat, Heat Units 
and Calories are thoroughly explained in Part 5. (See 
Combustion.) By specific heat, we mean the quantity 
of heat necessary fo raise the temperature of any sub¬ 
stance one degree compared with the quantity neces¬ 
sary to raise the temperature of the same weight of 
water one degree. Water is used as the standard 
or unit of calculating the specific heat of all other sub- 



Part 4 


11 


stances, because the specific heat of water is taken as 
Otie, Therefore, we understand, that a unit of heat 
(B. T. U.) is the amount of heat required to raise 
one pound of water through one degree Fahrenheit, 
or to express it in the metric system, to raise one gram 
of water from,0 degree Centrigrade to 1 degree C., 
one gram calorie is required. So, if we have one 
pound of water at 60 degrees (F) and want to raise 
it to 80 degrees (F) or 20 degrees, we require 20 
units of heat (B. T. U.) (See Part 5.) 

The principle involved in getting dough at a cer¬ 
tain heat is that all substances which have more or less 
warmth or heat will part with this warmth when they 
are brought in contact with cooler substances, until all 
are at an equal temperature. For instance, we mix 
one pound of water at 60 degrees (F) with one 
pound of water at 80 degrees, the colder water will 
absorb the heat of the warmer and rise as the other 
falls, until the temperature is half way between, which 
in this case is 70 degrees. But if we take 2 pounds 
of water at 60 degrees (F) and only one pound at 80 
degrees, the resulting temperature of the mixture will 
not be 70, but only a trifle under 67 degrees, because 
we have a smaller amount of heat, having only half 
the quantity of the warmer water. 

However, when we mix different substances, say 
water and flour together, the resulting temperature 
of the dough is different. The specific heat of flour 
differs from that of water (the average is 0.40) which 
means that a given amount of flour requires less heat 
to raise it a given number of degrees or heat units, 
than does an equal quantity of water, or on the other 
hand, the same quantity of heat will raise a given 
quantity of flour to a higher degree of temperature (or 
more heat units are produced) than it will raise the 
same quantity of water. This leads us to the fact 
that one pound of water will part with as much heat 
as will raise two pounds of flour to a temperature 
exactly between the two. 



12 


Part 4 


We may figure the average specific heat of flour 
at 0.40 but there is no end of exceptions or differences. 
For instance, different kinds of flour vary in specific 
heat; for instance, for Rye sponge and dough and 
Graham, I take the water cooler than for wheat flour 
sponges and doughs, although the flour has the same 
temperature. (See Mixing-room Chart.) Even in 
the same flour the specific heat varies; it requires 
more heat to raise one pound of flour from 50 to 51 
than it does to raise one pound of the same flour 
from 70 to 71 degrees. Now, if the temperature of 
the flour was the only factor to consider, it would 
even then be more simple to get the proper dough 
temperature, but the variations of shop temperature 
must also be considered, the size of dough, etc. 

After many experiments with doughs of from 1 
to 4 barrels of flour, my advice is this: Never have 
water over 85 degrees (or 90 maximum) for mixing 
a dough in winter or under 65 degrees (F) in summer, 
no matter what temperature the flour may have. 

Of course you will ask, “How are we to get a 
dough of 80 or 81 degrees when the flour is 86 or 88 
in summer or only 60 or 65 in winter?” There are 
a number of methods given by different expert bakers 
for determining temperatures. Some recommend to 
deduct flour temperature from the required dough 
heat and add the difference to the dough heat, 
the result being the temperature for the water. This 
would mean, take the water at 101 deg. F. In another 
book the method of multiplying the required temper¬ 
ature of the dough by 2 and subtract the temper¬ 
ature of the flour with allowances, brings the water 
to 104 degrees. Now I have a fixed standard which 
acts as a guide. Temperature of flour is taken in 
the flour bin, every morning, before the mixer begins 
his work and marked down on the dough sheet. The 
condition of the weather and outdoor temperature is 
also marked down. The dough room is kept at 78 
or 80 degrees, summer and winter. We know from 



Part 4 


13 


the previous day’s record of temperature, how much 
water to hold back to be added to doughs at a higher 
temperature. The reason for not mixing the flour 
with water over 85 degrees is this: Water over 85 
degrees will dissolve the soluble gluten immediately 
it gets in contact with it, and at the same time the 
cold flour, say at 65 degrees, will chill the water very 
fast. By adding a small quanity of water, even if 
boiling, after the water and flour is mixed together, 
the extra heat in the hotter water will add many 
thousands of heat units or calories and raise the tem¬ 
perature as desired. 

Of course, every baker should have a fixed stand¬ 
ard of calculating or figuring the temperature of the 
water required according to the temperature of the 
flour, shop, and outside temperature; of course, some 
judgment must be used or allowance made for pre¬ 
vailing conditions; but, whenever the water tempera¬ 
ture is required to be above 85 degrees, mix your 
flour with water at 85 degrees, holding back one or 
two gallons. When flour is all well mixed with the 
water, take the remaining amount of water many de¬ 
grees hotter (even if boiling, it does not matter), and 
this water added at a high temperature will bring the 
dough at the required 82 or 84 degrees. 

Pour the water on gradually while the mixer is 
running. By any other method you would perhaps 
require your water to be 102 degrees for 83 degrees 
dough. So on each pound of water we are 17 degrees 
short, which means 1,700 degrees short on the hun¬ 
dred pound of water. Now, take scalding water at 
170 degrees, and the difference between 85 and 170 
is 85. Therefore, 20 pounds of water (2% gallons) 
at 170 degrees will give you the twenty times 85 
degrees, or 1,700 degrees, which you need to bring 
the whole dough to 83 degrees, or give the same re¬ 
sult as if you took all the water at 102 degrees. 

When you have been using the water at 95 de¬ 
grees, the flour not being quite so cold, and want to 



14 


Part 4 


take it now at 85 degrees, it would take only 100x10 
or 1,000 degrees to add, or a trifle less than 12 pounds 
of water (1^/4 gallons) at 170 degrees. If you use 
boiling water to bring up the temperature of the 
dough, it requires a smaller amount. 

Example: We should take 100 pounds water at 
95 but wanted only 85 degrees, multiply the amount 
(100 pounds) by 95 gives 4,500 degrees. Next, mul¬ 
tiply the temperature of the 100 pounds of water which 
we want to take at 85 degrees, and have 100x85 
or 8,500. Therefore, we are 1,000 degrees short. 
One pound of boiling water, 212 degrees and the 
other water at 85 degrees shows a difference of 127 
degrees. Divide the 1,000 degrees by 127 gives about 
8 pounds (or one gallon). Consequently, if we use 
water at 85 degrees, instead of 95 and keep one gallon 
back, to be added at the boiling temperature after the 
flour and water is well mixed, we will have a better 
dough. 

To convince yourself that it is detrimental to the 
gliadin, and consequently to perfect fermentation, to 
use the water above 85 degrees, mix a little flour 
into a small dough with sufficient water at 95 de¬ 
grees. Now try to wash out the gluten in water 
of the same temperature, and you will find a very 
small amount of gluten. The gliadin has been dis¬ 
solved by the hot water. You repeat the same test 
making another dough, using water at 50 degrees 
or colder, and then try to wash out the gluten in 
water of the same low temperature, you find that the 
starch is hard to wash out, the whole dough being 
like a piece of leather. After you succeed in getting 
out the starch you will get a tough, stringy, gray sub¬ 
stance^ which is glutenin. The smooth binding part 
(gliadin) again is missing. To get a perfect test, or 
gluten sample, you have to use the water for both 
operations, mixing the dough and washing out the 
starch, at a temperature between 68 and 80 degrees. 




Part 4 


15 


However, sponges must be treated different than 
straight doughs. Water must be taken colder, as the 
gluten (principally the gliadin) has been softened dur¬ 
ing the fermentation. I have found that the water 
should be taken much colder to pour on a sponge when 
ready to mix with more flour for dough. Salt and 
other ingredients may be added same time with water, 
the sponge broken up with the water and then let stand 
at least flve minutes before adding the flour required. 
With an eight hour sponge this is still more important 
than with a four or five hour sponge. The cold water 
will draw the excess of heat from the sponge and 
stiffen the gluten, invigorate it to stand the mixing 
into dough without getting a sticky dough or a dead 
dough. 



Fig. 2.—A, shows Gluten washed from 50 grams unfermented Dough; 

B, washed from eight-hour Sponge. 

Example: Take a piece of sponge when it has 
dropped and is ready for taking; try to wash out the 
starch (to get the gluten) using water at 85 degrees 
or over. You will not be able to find any gluten. Take 
the water at 65, you save a few stringy, tough little 
pieces. Now put a piece of same sponge in water at 
35 or 40 degrees, and you will be able to gather all 
the gluten contents left during the fermentation pro- 



16 


Part 4 


cess of the sponge. However, it is most all glutenin 
and has a gray dead color. It is about one-third of 
amount that you get by washing out same amount of 
dough made of water and same kind of flour. This 
explains my statement, that in hot weather the water 
for mixing the dough should not be taken below 60 
degrees, no matter bow warm the flour is. Keep suf¬ 
ficient water back (from one to two gallons) and later 
on, when dough is partly mixed, add that amount of 
colder' water,—even ice water will not hurt. The 
large difference in degrees of the comparatively small 
amount of colder water will draw the heat out of the 
flour much better than when the whole amount of 
water is taken at a low temperature, which chills the 
gluten and retards fermentation. 

After any dough is partly mixed (straight dough 
or sponge dough), especially in a mixer, with fast 
speed, it does not hurt, but rather improves, the dough 
to add a few pieces of ice, and let them run along in 
the mixer until the dough is nearly finished; then take 
them out, or if the ice has been chopped fine, it will 
have melted. This will keep the mixer and blades 
cool, and make a whiter dough and better texture. 

Although I believe in fast speed mixers, I do not 
believe in over-mixing a dough for the sake of yield, 
being able to use a few pounds more of water to 
every barrel of flour. You do so at the expense of 
flavor. 

BREAD FORMULAS. 

In reality there is no such thing as a bread formula. 
Every baker has his own method of working out a 
formula suited to his own fancy or to suit his par¬ 
ticular trade. One baker gets best results from one 
flour while the other baker condemns it. One baker 
told me that it is wasting money to use any dry milk 
in bread, while thousands of barrels are sold every 
month to some of the most progressive bakers; I my¬ 
self have used hundreds of barrels. The same refers 



Part 4 


ir 


to Malt Extracts and Shortenings. I have a col¬ 
lection of formulas of the leadinig loaf from a dozen 
large, successful bakers, in as many cities, and not two 
of these formulas are alike, and I have not copied 
either one myself but use one of my own get up. 
And as to some advertised kinds of bread, where a 
certain formula is furnished, the same has to be 
changed in different cities and bakeries according to 
conditions, and in some cases a different formula 
altogether is used, only retaining the name for ad¬ 
vertising purposes. 

Every baker has a regular formula for every kind 
of bread he makes and this we call a '‘basic” formula. 
For instance to one barrel of flour he may be using— 
14 gallons of Water; 1% pounds of Yeast; 2 pounds 
of Malt; 3 pounds of Sugar; 4 pounds of Lard; 3 
pounds of Salt. 

Then when he gets another flour or buys a higher 
diastasic malt extract, a richer shortening or a richer 
sugar, a different yeast, or runs short on yeast, he 
changes his formula accordingly. 

As I had occasion in several large bakeries to 
start a system in the shop, I naturally had to find the 
easiest way of getting the men in the mixing room 
used to figuring and calculating. Now, we all know 
that there are lots of bakers to this day who figure 
the amount of water by “buckets” or pails. Some 
use 10 quart buckets, others 3 gallon buckets. To 
every bucket they figure a certain amount of salt, 
yeast, sugar, etc. Now, we know that this will not do 
any longer, in an up-to-date bakery, where the total 
weight of every dough has to be marked down. A 
baker generally figures a gallon of water at 8 pounds. 
I have made this more simple by figuring,— 

25 lbs. water for 3 gallons 

50.6 “ 

100 •' “ “12 

Th is is practically correct, as we learned that the 
weight of water varies at different temperatures. 



18 


Part 4 


With this method, even the retail baker using only two 
buckets for sponge or dough can figure out the number 
of pounds of water without using a pencil. For in¬ 
stance he wants to use 9 gallons or 3 buckets of water: 
Well, 6 gallon is 50 pounds and 3 gallon is 25 pounds, 
makes 75 pounds. Or, he used 234 buckets (7^ gal¬ 
lon.) Now, 1 bucket is 25 pounds, 2 buckets is 50 
pounds, and Vz bucket (lF2gallon) is 12 pounds, 
making a total of 62 pounds, equal to 2^ buckets or 
7^2 gallons. Now when I want, for instance, 160 
pounds of water, my men would figure it this way— 
100 lbs. are 12 gal., 50 lbs. are 6 gal. and the other 
10 lbs. they figure as 1 gal., the result, 12-|-6-]-l=19 
gallons or 6 1-3 buckets. It certainy does not cause 
a great mental strain to memorize these simple calcu¬ 
lations. Then the rest of material can be figured out 
all based on 25 lbs. of water, say for— 

WATER FLOUR YEAST SALT SUGAR LARD 


25 

lbs. take 

1 40 

lbs 

. 6 

ozs. 

10 ozs. 

12 ozs. 

1 2 ozs. 

50 

4« 

80 

44 

12 

44 

1 Va lbs. 

1 Vi lbs. 

p/2 ‘ 

75 

C4 

120 

44 

18 

44 

30 ozs. 

2^4 “ 

2'/4 ‘ 

100 

44 44 

160 

44 

1 V 2 lbs. 

2 V 2 lbs. 

3 “ 

3 ■ 

125 

44 44 

200 

44 

30 

OZS. 

3 “ 

m “ 

33/4 ■ 


Now, most bakers also figure a barrel of flour as 
their basis, but I find it is more reliable to take the 
water as the basis for all calculations in bread doughs. 
Our standard of buying and selling flour by the barrel 
of 196 lbs. is certainly very antiquated and even if 
we buy our flour in sacks which weigh 140 lbs., the 
amount is based on the barrel standard. We know 
that 7 sacks make 5 barrels or 980 lbs. but the miller 
does not quote us price on 1,000 or 10,000 sacks, but 
so many barrels although it is all delivered in sacks. 
I hope the day is not far distant when some cental 
like the Metric System of Weights and Measures (Kil- 
ogramm and Metre and their decimals) will become the 
universal standards, and we can buy flour in packages 
of round figures. 




Part 4 


19 


BREAD STANDARDS. 

There have been attempts made in several cities 
to pass ordinances for the purpose of establishing 
standards of quality for all kinds of bread. Food 
inspectors, health officers and doctors are sometimes 
over zealous in their effort to protect the public against 
fraud and deception and the baker comes in for a 
good share of the accusation. 

They can not understand why a Gluten loaf of 
bread should contain anything but pure gluten flour 
or a graham loaf be made out of graham flour only, 
or they call it adulteration or unlawful to use any white 
flour in Rye Bread. Now the baker knows that the 
public would not buy a Graham loaf made out of gra¬ 
ham flour only, because it would appear as if it was 
made out of sawdust, or a Gluten loaf out of all pure 
gluten flour would not hold together and very few 
people do relish a loaf of Rye bread made out of even 
three-fourths parts of pure rye flour, to say nothing 
about all rye. Of course if a baker is trying to use the 
very lowest grade of wheat flour like “red dog,” he 
is hurting his own interest more than the public, be¬ 
cause he cannot improve his bread that way, and al¬ 
though he can save some money on the cost of such 
flour, he not only gets an inferior quality, but also a 
smaller yield. 

Many people, even many bakers imagine that Win¬ 
ter Wheat flour is added to a bread dough only because 
it is cheaper. But that is not so. By adding 10 to 15 
percent of rich, soft winter wheat flour most bread 
doughs are improved, because we get a richer dough 
and a better flavored, better colored, loaf of bread; 
and, too, we can reduce the amount of shortening and 
sugar or other yeast food. 

After thirty years of practical experience it is my 
conception— ^‘that the actual value or standard of any 
Flour or Standard of Bread is depending on the abil¬ 
ity and experience of the bakerS 



20 


Part 4 


One of the most successful bakers made this char¬ 
acteristic remark: ‘‘It is a poor baker who has to buy 
all first Patent flour to make a good colored, good 
looking and good tasting loaf of bread.” 

BAKING TESTS, whereby the loaves are baked 
in tins, are easier for measuring the expansion of the 
loaves, but are not as reliable as to the actual strength 
of the flour, as if we make the loaves for such tests in 
“Cottage,” “Vienna” of any other hand-made shape 
and bake them on the hearth of the oven. The pan 
loaf has only one direction of expansion and a weak 
flour can be helped along with yeast, yeast foods, etc., 
and will hold up in oven. With the loaves set on the 
hearth, each loaf has to depend on its own inherent 
strength and if the flour is weak the loaves spread or 
fall flat. You make a set of pan loaves and an equal 
set of “bottom” or “hearth” loaves from different 
kinds of flour and put them in the same oven. You will 
not find much difference in the appearance of the pan 
loaves from the different grades of flour all made of 
the same formula. A number of hearth loaves, each 
made from the same formula with different flours, 
will show different results. Some will crack on side, 
some will run flat, and some will be too tight and round 
and some may be just right. Therefore it will be an 
advantage to have different flours for different kinds 
of bread; for instance, for sponges you can use a 
stronger but cheaper flour, and in dough making add 
some of a very fancy patent for flavor and bloom only. 

CRACKING OF BREAD CRUST. It frequently 
happens that bread cracks on top, especially if baked 
on the hearth like Rye and Vienna Bread. The cause 
of this is that too much steam is used in the oven. 
For instance we make several thousand five-cent and 
ten-cent large loaves of a certain kind, which are 
proved with very little steam, and baked without any 
steam in the oven. They are not required to get a 
glossy finish, but in the hundreds of thousand loaves 




Part 4 


21 


baked in a year, I never noticed the crust of one loaf 
being cracked, and crust is always tender and brittle, 
not tough. If you use steam in oven, turn it on be¬ 
fore bread is put in and then as soon as bread has 
stopped expanding or raising and starts to color, you 
must turn off steam altogether, as the bread creates 
sufficient steam itself. In some cases it is even advise- 
able to open steam damper, especially as in large heavy 
bohemian rye and cottage loaves. When bread is taken 
direct from oven into a cold bread room, or to the 
wagon, the crust will also crack on top every time. It 
should be kept in the warm bakeshop until it has 
cooled some and the moisture or steam inside the loaf 
has all escaped. 

There is another kind of cracking of bread. The 
loaves will crack on top or side, especially hearth bread, 
when two are set too close together, or when the 
steam is not sufficient, or too dry. (See part 5 Steam, 
Ovens.) The Vienna and Rye will also crack open 
when sponge or dough is too old. 

COLOR OF BAKED LOAF. 

Color of flour is not exactly a guide as to the color 
ob the baked bread. For instance we make two kinds 
of bread—Buster Brown and Home-made—from the 
same blend of flour. The amount of ingredients used 
in the two doughs—yeast, shortening, milk, sugar, malt, 
and water—are exactly the same; the only difference 
is, for the Buster dough we use 12 to 16 ounces less 
salt and 30 pounds less flour than for the Home-made 
to 400 pounds of water. The temperature is also 
alike, but the Buster loaf is whiter than the Home¬ 
made loaf. This I trace to the smaller amount of salt, 
principally. The more salt, the darker or richer the 
color of the loaf in crumb and crust. This is especially 
noticeable in bread made from sponge dough. I may 
further mention that both have a distinct flavor and 
texture. To give the Buster a richer looking crust, 
I use steam in the oven, while the Home-made is dusted 
with flour and baked without steam. 




22 


Part 4 


KEEPING BREAD MOIST. 

CORN MUSH. Cooked flour (gelatinized) or a 
mush made from fine white Cornmeal is a very good 
retainer of Moisture in Bread. Before we had Malt 
Extract, we used a good deal of such mush in pan 
bread, especially the homemade kind. There are now 
corn preparations on the market, which are already 
cooked or steamed or otherwise prepared, taking the 
place of cooked mush, which together with Malt 
Extract, make also a good yeast-food. Absorbing 
from 100 to 200 percent more water than ordinary 
raw wheat flour, we also get a larger yield—more 
pounds of such mush to every 100 pounds of water in 
a straight dough can safely be used, but I would not 
advocate more, as the bread is inclined to become 
heavy and be more difficult to bake thoroughly. In 
damp weather during the summer such bread is in¬ 
clined to get mouldy much quicker. Therefore, the 
amount used should be reduced in summer. 

COOKED OR GELATINIZED flour answers 
about the same purpose as corn mush, only does not 
take up quite so much water, but gives a nice bloom 
and helps the flavor. 

POTATO MUSH. Patatoes are another mois¬ 
ture retainer, and by the introduction of Potato Flour 
the use of potatoes has become much less laborious 
and more convenient. It gives bread a special flavor 
and also increases yield. But as potatoes in any form 
hasten fermentation, as any kind of yeast has strong 
affinity for them, more care must be observed to 
avoid “wild” fermentation or prevent bread going sour. 

RYE BREAD. 

The first consideration for making a good Rye 
bread is a good fresh Rye Flour. In large bakeries 
where a separate apparatus-blender, sifter and stor¬ 
age-bin are used for Rye flour, I recommend the use 
of pure Rye flour and a good first clear or second 
straight and sometimes a small amount of Hard Kan- 




Part 4 


23 


sas. Of course, where only a few hundred loaves of 
Rye bread a day are made, a good blended flour, 
Rye and straight or spring wheat already mixed at 
the mill are more convenient. 

There are several kinds of Rye Bread made. Half 
Rye, Bohemian Rye, Sauer Rye, etc. For hardly any 
other kind of bread does the method differ so widely 
in different bakeries as for Rye bread. Some bakers 
make a very soft sponge with nearly all Rye flour, 
using two-thirds of the total water in the sponge. For 
the dough, they use nearly all white flour, straight or 
clear, and perhaps a small amount of Hard Kansas 
with it. Others use their regular blend, 2 to 2}^ 
sacks of straight Spring flour to one sack of blended 
Rye flour, or 3 sacks straight or clear Spring to one 
sack of pure Rye in both sponge and dough, a little 
second Spring Patent or Kansas added to the dough. 
Some make a straight dough. In this case a piece of 
dough kept over from previous dough (not sauer) 
makes a larger loaf. 

I use a medium soft sponge about 36 pounds of 
flour to every 25 pounds of water and pour on a half 
gallon more or 28 to 30 pounds for dough. A soft 
dough gives largest, best-grained loaf. I also add 2 
pounds Sauer to every 25 pounds of water used in the 
sponge, but Sauer is mixed in doughing not in the 
sponge. Rye sponge should only drop once. Rye 
dough made from sponge should be allowed to get 
ready only once (when it breaks), then knocked down 
and only allowed to stand about twenty minutes the 
second time. For Bohemian Rye, I set a larger 
sponge with two-thirds of the total water and use 
more pure Rye flour in sponge and dough. For 
doughing use about same amount of Sauer as in half 
Rye dough. 

This dough goes to the bench (or the divider) as 
soon as mixed, which makes a fine rounded loaf in 
the oven. This Bohemian Rye also needs a cooler 
oven, otherwise it will crack open. All Rye bread 



24 


Part 4 


requires plenty of steam in the oven until it starts to 
color. Rye flour should always be fresh from the mill; 
not over two or three weeks supply at a time being 
kept. It must also be kept in a cool place. I prefer 
Wisconsin or New York State Rye^ and not too dark. 

SAUER. I start fresh Sauer only once a week 
with say 3 ounces of yeast to a gallon of water and 
sufficient Rye flour to make a medium stiff dough, 
temperature not over 83 degrees. This will spring 
up nice and round and break like a cauliflower. Then 
freshen it up with 2 to 3 quarts more water, of about 
same temperature, and add more pure Rye, also a 
half pound ground caraway and 2 ounces of salt. 
When this breaks again, add from 2 to 4 quarts more 
water, the same amount of salt as before, more ground 



ABC 
Fig. 3. —A, Rye bread made from straight dough; B, Rye bread made 
from sponge dough; C, Bohemian rye bread made with "Sauer.” 


caraway and more pure Rye flour. By this time you 
can add scraps of white dough from the machines, etc., 
and later on all Rye scraps as well. 

Some bakers have the mistaken impression, that 
any old pieces of sour dough and scraps will do for 
sauer, and think it should smell sour. Sauer dough 
must always be kept sweet by freshening up con¬ 
tinually. When it once gets sour or bitter, you may as 
well start a new Sauer. Scraps do not hurt the Sauer, 
as long as it is always freshened up. 

Sauer must be mixed thoroughly every time, and 
kept in a warm place. Keep adding ground caraway 




Part 4 


25 


and little salt every time you work it and every day, 
or every second day, a little yeast added will keep 
it fresh and sweet. I add salt for the purpose of 
keeping it from working in the dough as I only use 
the Sauer for flavor, and when made right and watched 
closely, it will be as sweet as a nut all the time. Only 
use pure Rye flour in Sauer. 

Figure 3 gives an illustration of how I get about 
the same texture in Rye bread made with different 
methods. (A) is made from a straight dough (half 
Rye). But more yeast is required than for sponge 
dough and a piece of left over rye dough besides some 
Sauer. Say use 4 ounces of Sauer, 3 to 4 ounces 
of yeast and 3 to 3^2 ounces of salt to the gallon of 
water. The loaf is a little smaller than the sponge 
loaf but very sweet and close grained and smooth. 

(B) is made from our regular half rye sponge dough, 
more water poured for the dough, than for the sponge. 

(C) is a Bohemian Rye loaf, for which less water is 
poured on dough than on sponge and taken from the 
mixer direct to the divider or bench. I use ground 
caraway in every rye sponge, besides what is mixed 
into the sauer. 

BREAD BAKED ON HEARTH. 

The one factor to be considered when baking any 
kind of bread on the hearth is the steam in the oven. 
You will And full information about Steam in Part 5. 

The steam prevents the cracking of the loaf and 
keeps it in shape during its expansion in the oven. 
Steam produces a gloss or glaze on the crust, which is 
more natural than if bread is washed after it comes out 
of the oven. The glaze on Vienna in the oven is 
caused by the gelatinizing of the starch in the dough; 
in other words, by the formation of dextrin or gum 
while the crust is forming. 

As any bread or rolls baked on the hearth are im¬ 
proved greatly in looks by a rich, dry gloss, we must 
help to get that gloss; it is even more important for 
this bread to keep it covered up during proofing (or 




26 


Part 4 


in a moist place) to prevent it from getting crusted. 
If that happens, it should be washed with weak starch 
wash before going to the oven. Or if there is not 
sufficient steam in oven, bread must be washed when 
it comes out of the oven; however, this must be done 
immediately or else crust gets very tough and wet. It 
is better to place loaves or rolls back in oven for a 
minute after washing them. 

About Flour for Hearth Bread ; that depends on the 
method of fermentation. For Vienna and French 
bread and Vienna rolls, the addition of some extra 
fancy middlings patent flour, (Spring or Kansas) from 
15 to 40 percent, is the greatest improver, and helps 
more than any other material to produce a tender crust 
and delicious flavor. I would advise any baker, includ¬ 
ing the small retail baker, to keep some of the very 
finest Patent always on hand, even if he pays from 50 
cents to a dollar more for it. The flavor of such fancy 
Patents I compare with the finest brands of Hungarian 
flour. I only advocate such rich flour as a special 
blend to improve the color, crust and flavor, so, re¬ 
ember, as I said, for Vienna, French Bread and Rolls, 
you just add this fancy flour to the dough, not in the 
sponge. 

In one large bakery where we made about a thou¬ 
sand dozen “Weeks” or Butter Rolls (baked on the 
hearth) a day, we made a soft sponge (2 hours) with 
regular blend, and for the dough we used half of the 
Fancy Patent. To every Vienna dough we also used 
one sack of the Fancy Patent. A flour like No. 7 
mentioned in the Laboratory and Practical Flour Tests 
(Part 3), is about the right kind for this purpose. 

To illustrate my contention about such fancy flours 
which are made as a specialty by several large mills 
and sold at an extra fancy price, I give result of a 
test of one, which we shall call Fancy Hungarian 
Patent. The sample loaf made from the above was 
characteristically flat in proof; it sprang up better in 
oven. However, it would not stand up full, but sank 



Part 4 


27 


some. When it was cut after 12 hours, it was a darker 
yellow than Standard Spring or Kansas. However, 
flavor of crumb and crust was delicious, and crust a 
fine rich golden brown. 

All bread baked on the hearth should first be 
rounded up and allowed to spring on before it is 
moulded up in proper shaped loaves. The effect of 
careless moulding is plainly demonstrated in Fig. 4. 



Fig. 4.—First loaf moulded loose; second loaf moulded tight. 

The loaf in the right being moulded proper, sprang 
up fine and cracked perfectly in oven, while the loaf 
on the left, moulded up carelessly and too loose, ran 
flat in oven and did not crack. Both loaves are from 
same dough, made at same time and baked in same 
oven together. 

TEXTURE AND GRAIN OF BREAD. 

When cutting a loaf of bread, we first look at 
the cut surface, and from the regularity or evenness 
of the network of the little cells, most bakers form 
their judgment on the texture of the loaf. However, 
I call this only the grain. Some bakers may condemn 
a loaf having a very good texture, just because of 
their erroneous impression that the presence of one 
or a few larger holes destroys the texture of the loaf. 
In reality the holes can accidently happen in the best 
loaf, or perhaps in only a few loaves in a batch of a 
thousand loaves. This is illustrated in Figure 6, show¬ 
ing a loaf of bread fit to get a prize in any competi¬ 
tion, judging from first cut. which shows it perfect 






28 


Part 1 


in grain, color and texture, and having a very smooth, 
velvety feeling. But, prompted by mere curiosity, I 
cut the loaf on the other end, and behold! several 
large holes were there. This deceiving fact struck 
me so forceful, that I had the two pieces (from the 
same loaf) photographed. Now, suppose I had cut 
the wrong end first and formed my opinion on the 
appearence or grain of the crumb? This proves:— 
That real Texture is not the grain alone, as seen 
with your eyes, hut it is decided by the touch of your 
Ungers, the sense of feeling. 



A B 

Fig. 5 •—A, Loaf almost perfect in grain, texture and color. B, Same 

Loaf cut on the other end. 

When you rub the fingers over a fresh cut piece 
of bread and it feels like a piece of velvet, or in other 
words, “as smooth as silk,” that is good, perfect tex¬ 
ture. But when it feels rough and dry, coarse, or 
perhaps even crumbles away like sawdust instead of 
being elastic and smooth, that is poor grain. The real 
texture (judged by the sense of touch or feeling) is 
largely influenced by the temperature during fermenta¬ 
tion; while what we may term the grain, depends 
mostly on the strength of'the gluten and its develop¬ 
ment by stretching during the dough-mixing process. 
The holes in the loaf shown above are not to be con¬ 
sidered at the expense of the real texture, as they 
were caused accidently. (See holes in bread). 




PART 5. 


Heat, Combustion, Fuel, Ovens. 


HEAT. 

The introduction of machinery and patent bake- 
ovens necessarily demands of the up-to-date baker a 
more or less technical education. The regulation of 
the temperature of water, sponge and dough, as well 
as the regulation of heat in bake-shops and the ovens, 
must be studied, and the principles governing them 
properly applied. 

The heat in a bake-oven can and should be kept 
under control just as the engineer has perfect control 
over his engine or boiler. A pyrometer or thermo¬ 
meter should be attached to every bake-oven, whether 
made of brick or iron; indirectly (flue-heated) or in¬ 
side (direct) fired. There are three different scales 
of heat measure; the Reaumur, Celsius or Centi¬ 
grade and the Fahrenheit. To abbreviate these names 
on pyrometer or thermometer, the following letters 
are used: R. (Reaumur), C. (Celsius), F. (Fahren¬ 
heit). The freezing point on the R. and C. is marked 
at zero, 0, while on the F., it is 32 degrees above zero. 
The respective boiling points are marked at R. 80 de¬ 
grees, C. 100 degrees, F. 212 degrees. In R. and C., 
reading the number of degrees below zero are marked 
“Cold,’’ or “Minus” (—) degrees. Those above are 
marked “Heat,” or “Plus” (-|-) degrees. By this you 
can readily understand how important it is to men¬ 
tion the system of “Scale” used when speaking of 
temperature. 

To transform degrees of Fahrenheit into Reau¬ 
mur, you deduct 32 from the F. degrees; multiply 
the remaining number by 4, and then divide by 9. 




2 


Part 5 


For example: 77 degrees F. are equal to 20 R; de¬ 
duct 32 from 77, equals 45; multiply with 4, equals 
180; divide by 9, equals 20. 

To transform Fahrenheit into Celsius, deduct 
32; multiply by 5, and divide by 9. 

To transform Celsius into Reaumur, multiply by 
4 , and divide by 5. To transform Celsius into Fahren¬ 
heit, take the number of C. degrees 1 4-5 times, and 
add 32. 

To transform R. degrees into C., take the num¬ 
ber of R. times. R. degrees are transformed 
into F., by taking the number of R. degrees 2^ times 
and add 32. 

Mercury has been adapted as the standard for 
use in thermometers, due to the regular and never- 
varying way in which it expands or contracts under 
normal conditions. The column of mercury in the 
tube of a thermometer seems to be round, and about 
one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. As a matter of 
fact, it is flat, and a good deal finer than a single 
hair. Mercury does not expand to any great extent 
so it is imperative that we confine it in as small a 
space as possible. It is the magnifying effect of the 
glass that enables us to see it so plain. Spirits of win© 
is sometimes used, with coloring matter added, but it 
is not perfectly accurate. 

Up till a few years ago. Mercury Thermometers 
for bake-ovens were not extensively used, owing to 
their frail construction and liability to breakage as well 
as constant separation of the mercury column. Mod¬ 
ern manufacturing methods and new invention along 
this line have overcome these defects. There are now 
on the market two distinct styles of heat records. 
They are the Angle Thermometer and the Improved 
Pyrometer. In classing the heat indicators on the 
market to-day in two styles, I reserved the “Electric 
Pyrometer’’ for a class in which it stands alone. With 
this instrument, the height of achievement has cer- 




Part 5 


3 


tainly been reached. In most shops, while the oven- 
man is responsible for the appearance of goods coming 
from the oven, it is the foreman in charge who gets 
the blame for things going wrong. Think of the 
saving of time and worry for the foreman or superin¬ 
tendent who has such diverse things to keep his mind 
on, to be able at a moment’s notice to stand at one 
end of a chain of ovens or in his office and see the 
temperature of every oven in the shop by simply 
throwing an electric switch. Could we wish for any¬ 
thing more simple and satisfactory? The movements 
and all parts subject to heat on these as well as 
the modern thermometers and pyrometers now on the 
market are made of non-corrosive material. They 
are all very sensitive, and the indicator shows instantly 
the slightest variation in temperature. The proper 
degree of heat for baking and handling of the above 
instruments will be more thoroughly mentioned under 
‘‘Ovens and Firing.” It appears that this part of the 
shop system has been grossly neglected in most bak¬ 
eries, both large and small. If the firing of different 
styles of ovens is properly understood, a more uni¬ 
form heat is acquired and a great saving in fuel is 
the result. Very few bakers have paid any attention 
even to the first principles of combustion and heat 
units. However, before we go into details of correct 
firing methods and kinds of fuel, a few facts on the 
principles of combustion will be necessary. 

COMBUSTION. 

Chemists classify all known substances either as 
elements, compounds or mixtures. We will deal only 
with the elements and compounds. Compounds are 
those substances which can by chemical action or by 
action of physical energy (heat or electricity) be di¬ 
vided into two or more simpler substances. These 
substances which cannot by any known means be 
further split up are called elements. The principal 




4 


Part 5 


elements we have to deal with in the combustion of 


fuel are: 

Carbon .C. 

Hydrogen.H. 

Oxygen .O. 

Sulphur .S. 


In referring to these elements, it is customary to 
use the symbol or abbreviation which is usually the 
first letter. Thus, C stands for Carbon, and O for 
Oxygen. 

Popularly, combustion means fire or burning. Ex¬ 
clude air from a fire, and the fire goes out. Oxygen 
is therefore necessary for combustion. Science has 
proved that oxygen has a great attraction for carbon, 
therefore, when these two elements are exposed, they 
rush together with great rapidity and force, and the 
chemical action is accompanied by light and heat. In 
combining in this way, they form an invisible gas, 
called carbon dioxide. The chemical symbol of this 
is CO‘ 2 . From this we plainly see that for every part 
of C or carbon present, we must have two parts of O, 
or oxygen. If we do not have these proportions pres¬ 
ent, a different gas is formed, producing through the 
chemical action, a larger or smaller amount of chemical 
energy, or heat. For instance, cut off the air supply, 
until you have but one part of O or oxygen for each 
part of C, or carbon, and these two uniting, form the 
gas Carbon Monoxide, the chemical symbol of which, is 
CO. When this occurs, that is, when less air is sup¬ 
plied, the combustion is said to be imperfect, and the 
carbon burns to CO instead of CO 2 '. The quantities 
of heat produced by the complete combustion of carbon 
in our fuel, is found by experiment to be as follows: 

Carbon burned to CO .2 generates 8080 calories, 
or 14500 B. T. U. 

Carbon burned to CO generates 2473 calories, or 
4452 B. T. U. 

By this you see we lose 5607 calories or 10,000 
B. T. U., if the supply of air is not sufficient to bum it 









Part 5 


5 


from CO to CO 2 . Calories is the standard name in 
referring to the table of Heat Units. A calorie of heat 
is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature 
of one gram of water, from 0 degrees to one degree, 
Centigrade. This is called the Gramme-Calorie or lesser 
calorie. For measuring larger quantities of heat, just 
the calorie is used. This is the amount of heat neces¬ 
sary to raise one kilogram of water, through one degree 
of Centigrade. The Gramme-Calorie is 1-1,000 part 
of the Calorie above mentioned. 

There is another system of heat units used among 
engineers that depends entirely on British standards of 
weight and temperature. This is called the British 
Thermal Unit, and is abbreviated B. T. U. One B. 
T. U. represents the amount of heat required to raise 
one pound of water through one degree F. 

To transform Calorie Units (metric system) into 
British Thermal Units (Fahrenheit degrees) multiply 
the former by 9 and divide by 5. 

Usually the quantity of air admitted to the furnace, 
is from 50 to 100 per cent more than is necessary for 
the complete combustion of the fuel. This extra quan¬ 
tity of air enters the furnace at a temperature of from 
60 to 70 degrees and escapes up the chimney at a 
temperature of from 400 to 600 degrees. A large 
quantity of heat is thus wasted and the temperature 
of the fire lowered. So you see that by being careful 
not to get too much draft, you overcome the loss of 
heat the same as by being careful that you have enough. 
Following are a few conditions existing in our fuels 
that aid or retard complete economical combustion, 
and they should be understood by all bakers. 

The conditions necessary to consume the gases 
generated are the same as for the burning of the car¬ 
bon, that is, a sufficient supply of air, allowing it a 
chance to mix with the gases at a high temperature 
in the furnace box. 

Be sure that your fuel is not wet. The moisture 
of the fuel must be evaporated at the expense of the 



6 


Part 5 


heat produced by combustion. This moisture enters 
the furnace at the prevailing outside temperature, say 
70 degrees, and passes up the chimney in the form of 
vapor, at 400 degrees or more. In producing this 
rise in temperature, thousands of heat units will be 
lost daily. Therefore, always keep your fuel under 
cover as far as can be helped, and never expose it to 
rain. 

Oxygen and hydrogen are found in fuel in com¬ 
bination in the form of moisture. This is one reason 
for using fuels containing as small a percentage as 
possible of these two elements. Although black smoke 
contains quantities of small particles of unburned car¬ 
bon, the heat loss is not as great as we might imagine. 
This is more thoroughly treated under the heading of 
Firing. 

Now that we have a little better knowledge as to 
how our fuel is consumed, we will discuss the various 
kinds of fuel. 


Comparative Table of Total Heat Evolved During Combustion. 


Combustibles 

1 Lb. Weight 

Weight of 
Oxygen 
Coniumed 
per Pound 
of 

Combustible 

Qpantity of Air 
per Pound 
of Combustibles. 

Total Heat 
per Pound 
of 

Combustible 
B. T. U. 

Lb. 

Air Cubic 
Ft. at 60® F. 

C to CO 2 . 

2.66 

11.60 

152 

14500 

C to CO. 

1.33 

5.80 

76 

4452 

Average Coal. 

2.46 

10.70 

140 

14133 

Coke. 

2.50 

10.90 

143 

13550 

Wood. 

1.40 

6.10 

80 

7792 





















Part 5 


7 


Chemical Composition of Combustibles. 

PECLET (Authority). 



Carboo, 

Hydro¬ 

gen 

Oxygen 

Nitrogen 

and 

Sulphur 

Water 

A»h 

T otal 

Coal 








(Average) 

.804 

.0519 

.0787 

.0246 


.0408 

1.000 

Coke. 

.850 





.150 

1.000 

Wood (Dry) 

.510 

.023 

.417 



.020 

1.000 

Wood 








(Ordinary) 

.408 

.042 

.334 


.200 

.016 

1.000 

Charcoal 








(Wood) 

.930 





.070 

1.000 


FUEL. 

Fuel is now such an expensive commodity that the 
economic ways in which it can be used, its quality, 
and power to generate heat, become subjects of great 
importance, wherever it is used in large quantities. 

Fuel, as the word is ordinarily used, means all sub¬ 
stances that burn in the air and produce heat. The 
fuels most commonly used are generally of an organic 
or vegetable origin. This includes all kinds of coal, 
peat, wood, coke, charcoal, as well as combustible gase? 
and liquid fuels. All fuels consist of more or less car¬ 
bon, an element necessary for producing heat. But 
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur and ash are all 
substances found in the above list of fuels, and must 
be considered, as the quantities in which they are 
present influences the value of any fuel as a heat pro¬ 
ducer. The number of heat units they produce ranges 
between wide limits, and vary according to the chemi¬ 
cal composition. The moire organic oxygen present in 































8 


Part 5 


a fuel, the less heat produced, owing to its being in 
combination with other elements. Sulphur is also an 
undesirable element in fuel, as it does considerable 
damage by corroding the grate bars, flues, chimneys 
and oven fixtures. The more ash a fuel contains, also 
lowers its value for economic purposes, as less heat is 
produced and much time is lost cleaning fires and 
digging out clinkers. 

Many of the large manufacturing concerns and 
institutions employing chemists, make a practice of de¬ 
termining the chemical composition of their coal. By 
doing this, they are enabled to buy only those fuels, 
coal or coke, having the largest percentage of heat- 
producing elements. This detail work in connection 
with fuel has not, to the author’s knowledge, been 
adapted by any of our large bakers. 

I will give a few practical pointers on the compo¬ 
sition and action during combustion of various fuels, 
that may be of interest and value to the baking in¬ 
dustry and the manufacturers of bake-ovens. Opin¬ 
ions about the most economical fuel for bakers’ ovens 
differ, and local prices of material must be considered 
in the selection of the fuel. 


COAL. 

Coal is divided into four different varieties, the 
market price of which vary considerable. They are 
mentioned as follows: 

1. Anthracite coal, which contains about 92 or 
more per cent of carbon. 

2. Semi-anthracite coal, over 85 up to 93 per 
cent of carbon. 

3. Semi-bituminous coal, which contains over 70 
to 87 per cent of carbon. 

4. Bituminous coal, which contains from 0 to 
75 per cent of carbon. 




Part 5 


9 


ANTHRACITE COAL. 

Does not ignite so quickly and requires a stronger 
draft to burn it. It is quite hard and shiny; burning 
with almost no smoke, gives it the preference over other 
coal in bakeries. 

This coal is sold under different names, accord¬ 
ing to size into which the lumps are broken. They 
are named in regard to the dimensions of the screens 
over and through which the lumps of coal will pass, 
for instance: 

PEA passes over ^-inch mesh and through 1-inch 
square mesh. 

CHESTNUT passes over ^-inch mesh and 
through 13 ^-inch square mesh. 

STO\’E passes over 13 ^-inch mesh, and through 
2-inch square mesh. 

EGG passes over 2-inch mesh, and through 3-inch 
square mesh. 

Another advantage in using anthracite coal, is the 
fact, that its available heating power is practically 
constant. The semi-bituminous coals and all good 
caking, soft coals yield just about the same quantities 
of available heating power as does the best anthracite 
coal, but require more attention and raking and con¬ 
sequently the fire and heat is not as constant and uni¬ 
form as if the former coal is used. 

Anthracite is a non-caking coal. As stated, it 
contains more carbon than any other coal and the least 
amount of volatile matter (hydrocarbons) from one to 
ten per cent. The best anthracite coal is mined in the 
northeastern part of Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Val¬ 
ley, Susquehanna, Shamokin and Lackawanna Dis¬ 
tricts. Occasionally, you get some anthracite coal 
which is flinty and hard as stone. It is almost im¬ 
possible to ignite it; just glows like stone and the 
pieces frequently fly all apart in the furnace with a 
crackling noise like a gun explosion. Such coal is 





10 


Part 5 


called Graphitic Anthracite, contains from 1 to 2 per 
cent of gaseous matter and as a fuel is almost worth¬ 
less. Graphitic Anthracite is found more frequently 
in the New England coal fields, especially in the Rhode 
Island Basin. 

SEMI-ANTHRACITE coal has about the same 
composition as the anthracite, but, is not as hard and 
burns more quickly; it crumbles readily and is not as 
clean, but burns with little smoke. Contains from 8 
to 12 per cent, of volatile hydro-carbons. 

BITUMINOUS COAL. 

SEMI-BITUMINOUS coal containing from 12 
to 25 per cent, of volatile hydro-carbons is easily ig¬ 
nited, burns freely with little or no smoke and is used 
extensively for heating steam boilers. This coal forms 
a hollow fire. 

BITUMINOUS COAL contains the most volatile 
hydro-carbon, varying from 20 to over 75 per cent. 
The nature and composition of this coal varies more 
than any other kind of fuel, therefore they are divided 
into three distinct classes: 

1. Caking Coal are those which swell and fuse 
together, forming a solid, spongy mass when burned 
in the furnace or grate. Therefore the fire must be 
frequently broken down with a slice bar and cleared 
from the grate in order to admit the air to pass 
through. 

2. Free Burning or Non-Caking Coal is so called, 
because it does not cake together as the above men¬ 
tioned varieties. 

3. Cannel or Gaseous Coal is very rich in vola¬ 
tile matter or hydro-carbons and therefore preferred 
for making gas. 

SLACK is the name given to the dust or left overs 
from any soft coal after they are screened. 

LIGNITE or BROWN COAL is the connecting 
link between Peat and Bituminous coal, the color varies 
from brown to black, absorbs moisture very rapidly 



Part 5 


11 


when exposed to the weather, which causes the lumps 
to break up and crumble quite readily. It burns quite 
easy and freely with a yellow flame and emits a tar¬ 
like disagreeable odor. However, its heating power 
is very low and it leaves considerable ash; is classed 
as a non-caking coal. 

PEAT is the first product resulting from decayed 
vegetable matter, partly carbonized and being found in 
marshes and swamps; it generally is spongy and satu¬ 
rated with moisture, containing on the surface as high 
as 80 per cent water; deeper down where it is more 
de-composed, it is also more solid. Before being fit 
for transport or burning, it must be dried out, being 
cut or pressed into brighettes. 

HARD COAL VERSUS SOFT COAL. 

When caking coals are burned, they fuse at com¬ 
paratively low temperatures, forming a crust over the 
top of the fire which prevents the immediate escape of 
the volatile gases that comprise from 40 to 50 per 
cent of the fuel’s heating power. 

These gases are then driven to the side of the 
fire-pot where they unite with the rising oxygen and, 
igniting at that point, are converted into volatile heat¬ 
ing power. 

When free burning coals are used, they disinte¬ 
grate at comparatively low temperatures and some of 
the hydro-carbon gases escape without coming in con¬ 
tact with the necessary oxygen for ignition. 

It makes quite a difference whether the coal is dry 
or wet. If it is wet, a large percentage of heat is 
necessary to bring up the temperature of the wet fuel 
to 212° first, in order to turn the water (dampness) 
into steam, and as a large percentage of this steam 
passes through the flues and chimney, that amount of 
heat is lost for heating purpose. As mentioned before, 
to raise the heat of one part (say one pound) of water 
one degree Fahrenheit it takes one Heat Unit. There¬ 
fore, if you pour one pound (one pint) of water at 




12 


Part 5 


60 degrees F. over the coal, it takes 152 Heat Units 
(B. T. U.) to raise the water from 60 to 212 degrees 
F. or to the boiling point and as it takes about 970 
Heat Units (B. T. U.) to evaporate or turn this pint 
of water into steam, you need altogether 1524-970= 
1122 Heat Units (B. T. U.) This same example 
worked out in Calories would read like this: For one 
Kilogram (one liter) water at 15 degrees Centigrade 
or Celsius (60 degrees F.) it takes 85 Calories to raise 
this pint of water from 15 C. to 100 C. or the boiling 
point, and as about 540 Calories are required to evap¬ 
orate or turn all the water into steam, you need alto¬ 
gether 854-540=625 Calories, which equals the 1122 
British Thermal Units on Fahrenheit bases. 

This example shows very plain that large quan¬ 
tities of heat are lost when damp or wet fuel is used. 

COKE. 

Is the residue left from certain kinds of Bitumin¬ 
ous coal, when burned or heated with almost the en¬ 
tire exclusion of air and all its volatile matter driven 
oi¥, leaving practically only carbon and a little ash. 
(see table.) It does not resemble the original coal 
at all; is hard, rough and honey-combed, and has a 
metallic ring, being much lighter than coal. Coke 
burns with almost no flame when combustion is com¬ 
plete. 

GAS HOUSE COKE is a by product from the 
manufacture of illuminating or artificial gas and mostly 
consumed locally. 

FURNACE COKE used to be made similar to 
charcoal in piles or mounds, but the demand having 
steadily increased, large Kilns and Coke Ovens of 
brick or stone have been erected for its manufacture. 
The most extensive coke centers are located around 
Pittsburg in the Connelsville district and the Alle- 
ghaney Mountain sides. West Virginia also produces 
considerable coke in the New River and Kanawha 
districts. Furnace coke is classed and its price fixed 




Part 5 


13 


according to the time it has been in the oven. (Car¬ 
bonizing.) The standard kinds are known as 48 and 
72 hour coke, the latter giving the highest number of 
Heat Units. Although the price of the 72 hour coke 
is from 50 to 75 cents per ton higher, it is the most 
economical, very light in weight, dry and uniform 
in size. Good Connelsville coke analizes as follows: 


Carbon.88.00 to 89.00 per cent 

Ash . 9.50 to 11.00 per cent 

Volatile Moisture 1.00 to 1.50 per cent 
Sulphur. 0.75 to 0.90 per cent 

GAS 


PRODUCER or ILLUMINATING GAS is dis¬ 
tilled from coal. On account of its high price it is used 
very little for heating bake ovens. Its heating value 
is estimated at about 155 B. T. U. per cubic foot. 

NATURAL GAS. In sections where a plentiful 
supply of natural gas has been discovered, it is used 
very extensively, and to-day is supplied from central 
stations to cities hundreds of miles away. The only 
trouble with natural gas is the inconsistency of pres¬ 
sure and in some localities the flow has given out en¬ 
tirely. Natural gas concerns claim that on an average, 
20,000 to 23,000 feet of this gas has the heating value 
of one ton of coal. The principal constituent is Marsh 
Gas (Methane) C. H4. The complete or proper com¬ 
bustion of natural gas is a problem which kept many 
scientists and engineers busy and experimenting ever 
since the introduction of natural gas for heating pur¬ 
poses. 

The combustion of natural gas is a very difficult 
problem to solve. To be able to use this ideal fuel 
successfully, both from a commercial and financial 
standpoint, a few fundamental principles must be 
observed. 

1. The proper amount of gas and oxygen must 
be brought in contact with each other. 

2. After being brought together, they must be 
thoroughly mixed before reaching the point of ignition. 






14 


Part 5 


3. Combustion must take place before they have 
a chance to separate again, which they will do soon 
after being mixed. 

The supply of proper amount of air must be 
watched, as a natural gas flame cannot exist unless 
supported by oxygen. Withdraw the air or oxygen 
supply, and the flame will be extinguished, while the 
gas will keep on flowing or escaping. Therefore, care 
must be taken when lighting a gas burner in any inside 
or furnace oven, that the dampers are first opened and 
that there is enough draft to carry away the product 
of combustion, otherwise there will be an explosion. 
It is a peculiarity of gas explosions that they strike 
back; that means through the open oven or furnace 
door. The writer witnessed several accidents as a re¬ 
sult of such gas explosions, where the men opened the 
valves of the burners before they had the lighted torch 
applied. In bakeovens with direct firing (inside the 
oven chamber) the danger of explosion is still greater. 
But nine times out of ten, the man who lights the fire 
is the cause through his carelessness. The writer al¬ 
ways cautioned his men to surely first open damper 
and oven door for a minute, to let any possible accu¬ 
mulation of gas in the oven escape before he puts his 
torch or light near the burners or grate, and only then 
open the gas valves. 

One of my foremen was burned three dil¥erent 
times through his carelessness. One time the force of 
the explosion striking back through the oven door, 
threw him clear across the shop against the wall, burn¬ 
ing his chest and face frightfully. 

As there may be a leak somewhere, unnoticed, it 
is the safest way to have an automatic pilot (small 
flame) burning all the time. 

Air and gas may be compared to oil and water, as 
they will not mix unless they are violently agitated, 
and unless combustion takes place promptly after prop¬ 
er amount of oxygen and the carbon in the gas have 
been agitated, they will separate again and escape with- 




Part 5 


15 


out furnishing the desired heat. As stated before, 
complete or perfect combustion requires the union of 
one atom of carbon C. and two atoms of oxygen O 2 . 
The gas people claim that they can use nearly 80 per 
cent of air with their gas. 

A natural gas from Pittsburg district shows aver¬ 
age composition of: 

Marsh gas (C. PI 4 . 67.00 per cent 

Hydrogen (H) . 22.00 per cent. 

Nitrogen (N) . 3.00 per cent. 

Oxygen (O) . 0.80 per cent. 

Other gases,. 7.20 per cent. 

There are different styles of gas burners, but they 
do not all answer the purpose of heating bakeovens. 
The writer’s experience with different gas burners will 
be explained later on under firing. 

WOOD. 

Is not used as extensively nowadays as a fuel for 
heating bakeovens, as it was before the introduction of 
Patent Flue and Continuous Bakeovens, except for 
kindling the fire. In a general way, one cord of the 
best hard wood is estimated to be equal to one ton of 
coal; one cord of soft wood is equal to ton of coal. 
B. & W. Co. give a comparison of 2^2 lbs. of dry wood 
to one lb. of bituminous coal in heat value. Of course 
these figures are calculated for heating Steam Boilers. 
For heating Bakeovens, I find heating value of wood 
closer to that of coal, especially in inside fired ovens. 
Green wood contains from 30 to 50 per cent of mois¬ 
ture. When perfectly dry, it contains about 50 per 
cent of carbon. An analysis of Oak has been quoted 
to be composed of 49 per cent carbon, 6 per cent hydro¬ 
gen, 42 per cent oxygen, a little over 1 per cent ash 
and not quite 1 per cent nitrogen. 

The heating value of wood varies from about 
6,500 B. T. U. to 9,000 B. T. U. or an average of 7,700 
B. T. U. per lb. (see tables, pages 6 and 7, part 5.) 









16 


Part 5 


OIL. 

PETROLEUM is being used only in sections 
where coal is scarce and oil plentiful, especially in Cal¬ 
ifornia, Texas and Wyoming. CRUDE OIL from 
Pennsylvania contains about 85 per cent carbon, 14 
per cent hydrogen, 1.4 per cent oxygen which gives 
a theoretical heating power of about 20,000 B. T. U. 
but there is quite a loss of heat by evaporation, which 
reduces the number of Heat Units considerable. There 
is also danger of explosion. The Standard Oil Co. es¬ 
timate that 173 gallons of their oil equal one long 
ton (2,240 lbs.) coal, allowing for all savings inci¬ 
dental to its use. 

COMMERCIAL VALUE OF FUEL. 

The commercial value of a given fuel for a certain 
amount of baking, can only be determined by an ex¬ 
tended trial, keeping careful records, adding to the 
fuel cost, the cost of firing and removal of ashes. (See 
Oven Record cards). Keeping a record of same 
items under same conditions, but with different fuels, 
it may be found at times, that a low priced fuel can be 
more expensive than the real high priced on account 
of requiring more labor for firing and removing ashes, 
cleaning grate and flues since larger quantities must 
be burned to get the same amount of heat. 

Anthracite Coal (small size) bought at $2.50 per 
ton will furnish about 10,000,000 B. T. Heat Units 
for $1.00. 

Larger sizes like Stove and Egg at the price of 
$6.25 per ton furnishes about 4,500,000 B. T. U. for 
$ 1 . 00 . 

The heat value of various grades and qualities 
of Bituminous or Soft coal will lie between the above 
figures or average between 4,000,000 to 10,000,000 B. 
T. U. for $1.00. 

Illuminating Gas at $1.00 per 1,000 cubic feet will 
yield only about 500,000 heat units for $1.00. 

Natural Gas if sold for 10 cents per 1,000 cubic 
foot will give about 10,000,000 B. T. U. for $1.00. 





Part 5 


ir 


Crude Oil selling at 4 cents per gallon will average 
4,000,000 heat units for $1.00. 

Kerosene selling at 10 cents per gallon is equiva¬ 
lent to 1,200,000 heat units for $1.00. 

Nearly all liquid fuels (distillates) furnish about 
same amount of heat per pound, but vary greatly in 
cost. 

One ton of Anthracite coal averages 25 bushel at 
80 pounds. 

One ton of soft coal averages 30 bushels at 
65 pounds. 

One ton of coke averages 40-50 bushels at 40 
pounds. 

A ‘‘ long” ton of coal weighs 2240 pounds, but is 
only sold on these bases to dealers or car load buyers; 
the extra 240 lbs. being figured as allowance for loss 
or shrinkage. 

OVENS. 

All old time ovens were fired with wood and were 
built on the same principle as the ovens found to this 
day in most smaller bakeries in Europe, especially in 
country districts. These ovens are well filled with dry 
wood and then fired. When all burned out, the ashes 
are removed and the oven chamber swabbed out with a 
wet cloth fastened to a pole. Such ovens are called 
the old “Vienna” Ovens and are used to this day by a 
number of Italian and French bakers in this country, 
even in New York and other large cities. However, 
with the introduction of modern improvements a great 
number of different constructed bakeovens have been 
devised and placed on the market. They may be di¬ 
vided into different classes, according to their con¬ 
struction, method of firing or kinds of fuel required: 

1. DIRECT or INSIDE fired ovens. 

2. INDIRECT or FURNACE fired ovens. 

3. CONTINUOUS BAKING or HOT AIR 
CHAMBER ovens. 

4. HOT WATER or STEAM PIPE ovens. 

Then again baker ovens are known irrespective of 




18 


Part 5 


the method of firing or kind of fuel used, under differ¬ 
ent names according to their mechanical construction, 
such as: Portable Ovens, Stationary (Brick) Ovens, 
Rotary, Reel and Drawplate Ovens, and now we have 
even Traveling ovens. 

DIRECT FIRED OVENS.—In this class belongs 
first the old Vienna Oven as above mentioned, fired 
with wood. After the fire has been drawn, the oven 
is allowed to stand off for one half to one hour with 
door and damper tightly closed, to allow the heat to 
equalize through every part of the oven chamber. 
However, after two or three batches are baked, the 
chamber must be refired again. One german authority 
even refers to having the oven refired after every batch. 
His figures are: 

For first baking, 100 Kilo Bread requires 32 Kilo 
Wood. 

For second baking, 100 Kilo Bread requires 12 
Kilo Wood. 

For third baking, 100 Kilo Bread requires 8 Kilo 
Wood. 

For fourth baking, 100 Kilo Bread requires 7.5 Kilo 
Wood. 

The crown is built as low as possible and raised 
10 to 14 inches in center, sloping on both sides from 
4 to 6 inches, above the hearth or sole. Further, the 
hearth of the genuine Vienna Oven also slopes from 
back to front. The object of this is to keep the steam 
from coming out of the mouth or oven door. (See 
Steam.) 

The author of this book has had some of these 
old style Vienna Ovens under his supervision, which 
were fired with natural gas. Two or three large gas 
pipes are run into the oven chamber extending about 
18 inches into the oven, set at an angle towards the 
crown, with valves and air chamber on outside of the 
oven to the right of the oven door. When gas is turned 
on, long flames will stream along the crown of the 
oven chamber, diagonal towards the left rear wall 



Part 5 


19 


where the damper is located. After being fired from 2 
to 23^ hours steady, the arches should show a white 
heat, and the hearth a bright red when gas is turned 
off. Being allowed to stand off for at least one hour, 
it is ready for baking. Steam being injected or water 
splashed in, these ovens bake especially nice milk or 
water rolls (hearth rolls.) After a few bakings, the 
gas is turned on again for from 15 to 30 minutes. 

The more popular style of direct fired oven, very 
efficient for general baking, bread, cake and pies has 
the furnace placed inside the baking chamber on one 
side of the door in front, the damper being on the op¬ 
posite side. After the fire is lit, the heat travels to the 
back of the chamber and then turns back to the flue to 
reach the chimney, or in more modern ovens, the heat 
chamber above the baking chamber. It is best to let 
oven rest awhile after damper is closed and fire cov¬ 
ered or drawn, to settle the heat. The advantage of 
this oven is, that you can cool it down and get up a 
flash heat again in short time, which is of special value 
where small batches of different kinds of baked stuff 
are wanted alternately, depending on one oven. 

The grate is set a few inches below the sole or 
hearth. Having no extra heat storage chamber, it is 
essential that the heat is allowed to linger longer in the 
oven, and a slow fire (or a larger fire banked) should 
be kept during the time there is no baking done. 

This style oven is built as a stationary brick oven 
or portable oven, the out side frame being metal, stand¬ 
ing on iron legs. 

INDIRECT OR FURNACE FIRED OVENS 
we call such ovens which have a furnace underneath 
the oven-chamber, fired from front, side or rear, the 
fire or heat traveling around and over the top of the 
baking chamber, adopted principally for Portable ovens 
or as in Shelf ovens, where stove pipes are run through 
the baking chamber from the stove or furnace under¬ 
neath. REEL and ROTARY also have a furnace be¬ 
low, but the heat strikes the baking chamber more 



20 


Part 5 


directly, as the furnace is open on top or only partly 
arched over the top. 

REEL OVENS are used almost exclusively in 
Cracker bakeries, on account of the shelves or plates 
being so easily reached with the peel for filling and 
emptying, but are also used in some large bread baker¬ 
ies for pan-bread. They are built on the principle 
of a Eerris Wheel. The baking blades are made of 
steel or sheet iron. 

ROTARY OVENS have only one baking surface 
revolving like a Merry-go-round. These ovens have a 
tile or soapstone hearth and are mostly used for pie 
baking. 

CONTINUOUS or HOT AIR CHAMBER 
OVENS are usually called Patent Brick Ovens and 
are the most popular for bread baking exclusively. 
The heat never strikes the baking chamber direct, being 
fired from the furnace below, either in front, side or 
back. The heat is accumulated and stored in chambers 
below and above the baking chamber, and no flame, 
smoke or dust can enter the same. The heat being 
stored, they are generally fired some hours before bak¬ 
ing is commenced, and can be used continuously. 
These ovens are preferred for baking bread and rolls 
exclusively on account of the heat being constant and 
uniform, but are not so practical for a general baking, 
including bread and cakes on account of the difference 
of heat required. When once the baking chamber is 
allowed to cool down, as needed for cakes it takes some 
time to get it hot enough again to bake bread. 

The baking chamber of the Continuous Ovens 
measures generally from 10 to 13 feet wide by 12 to 
14 feet deep inside measurement. Of late, however, 
these ovens are built in much larger sizes with ividc 
mouth or tzvo doors. The hearth is from 14 to 22 or 
even 25 feet across, by 13 to 14 feet deep. Although 
these new features were looked at by the bakers very 
sceptical and considered in diametrical opposition to all 
theories and traditions of oven building, they have 




Part 5 


21 


apparently given complete satisfaction so far. A great 
saving of fuel and labor, besides offering many con¬ 
veniences and better facilities for peeling and un¬ 
loading. 

HOT WATER OR STEAM PIPE OVENS are 
heated with a number of wrought iron pipes, located 
below and above the oven sole or drawplate. These 
pipes, are partly filled with water and hermetically 
sealed on both ends. The rear ends extend about a 
foot or less into the furnace which is usually at the 
rear of the oven. The furnace heat converts the water 
in the pipes into steam, and this steam being prevented 
from escaping, acquires a continually rising atmos¬ 
pheric pressure upon the water and a higher temper¬ 
ature is the result, which is transmitted from the pipes 
throughout the baking chamber. These pipes or 
tubes being first carefully tested as to their strength 
and flawless tightness, by exposing them to a consid¬ 
erable higher pressure than required for the baking 
heat, there is little danger of explosion. However, if 
in time any of the pipes should burst or swell, it is an 
easy matter to replace any single pipe with a new one, 
as- they are not connected or dependent in any way on 
one another. The most popular Steam Pipe Ovens are 
the DRAWPLATE. The principle of these ovens 
which also accounts for the name, lies in the arrange¬ 
ment of the baking plates being removable from the 
oven chamber. The slower process of loading the oven 
with the peel, has led to the idea of building ovens 
with sliding plates, which can be withdrawn, loaded 
quickly, and running mechanically on wheels, pushed 
back into the oven. The objection to the extra space 
required, when plates are pulled out, has been greatly 
dispelled, with the construction of Double deckers, one 
on top of the other, practically taking only the space 
of a single decker, and reducing the cost of construc¬ 
tion as well as the cost for fuel and operating. 

TRAVELING or CHAIN OVENS have been in 
use in Europe for baking crackers and small sweet 




22 


Part 5 


goods for some years, and in this country for Matzos. 
They are equipped with a steel wire netting or steel 
plates fastened to endless chains traveling through the 
baking chamber which can be from 30 to 60 feet long; 
speed can be regulated, fast or slow. Attempts have 
been made lately to build this style oven for bread 
baking. The writer has had an opportunity to watch 
the baking process of the first oven of this kind built 
in America (in Montreal, Canada) and was very favor¬ 
ably impressed with the uniformity in baking, simplic¬ 
ity of mechanism and great reduction in oven help. 
The baking chamber in this oven is 50 feet long and 5 
feet wide. The firing is done from a small tunnel built 
under the center of the oven where two furnaces are 
located, one running towards the rear, the other to¬ 
wards the front of the oven. It requires comparative¬ 
ly a small amount of fuel considering the amount of 
bread turned out in a day’s baking, from 8,000 to 12, 
000 loaves and its capacity is claimed to be far above 
that amount, being a continuous baker. 

FIRING. 

The proper firing of any bake oven depends on 
the construction of the flues and heat chambers, the 
kind of fuel and the draft of chimney, and differs 
greatly from firing a boiler or larger furnace. I have 
twice tried the experiment to put regular firemen in 
charge of firing the bake ovens. Both men claimed 
to be expert firemen; one having fired on Railroad 
Locomotives, the other in a large power house. How¬ 
ever,^ both failed to make good; they were so used to 
keeping on firing and poking and keeping up a lively 
fire, which we do not require for our Ovens. A well 
known baker remarked at a convention, ‘T am satisfied 
the fuel can be reduced twenty per cent or more, if it 
was handled with judgment, but it seems impossible 
to get laborers to use brains, they simply go on firing 
without using any judgment.” Now, I never trust 
the firing of any oven to a cheap laborer, whether there 
is one oven or ten to be looked after. 



Part 5 


23 


When starting a new fire with coal or coke in a 
cold oven, you will have less smoke and less loss 
of heat by kindling the wood in the front part of the 
grate, throwing a few shovels full of fuel in the back 
part of furnace, to raise its temperature first to the 
igniting point before spreading it over the new fire, 
and vou will not smother the flames. 

When burning BITUMINOUS or Soft Coal, 
which as stated before contains large amounts of vol¬ 
atile or gaseous matter, I recommend the so-called 
caking system for firing. This means when charging 
the fire with fresh coal, the coal is piled in the front 
part of the furnace as close as possible to the door and 
left there from lo to is minutes. As this coal is get¬ 
ting heated, the volatile matter (hydrocarbons) are 
driven off as vapor or gas making the coal carbonized 
or coked, and they will give more heat and make less 
smoke when later pushed back and distributed evenly 
over the fire, besides, these escaping gases while pass¬ 
ing over the fire in the rear, yield a good percentage 
of heat (8,000 to 12,000 B. T. U.) Although soft coal 
is considered cheaper than hard coal or coke, it re¬ 
quires more care and judgment as they will produce 
soot and smoke, clogging up the flues and chimney and 
leave more ashes to be removed. The loss of heat 
from these causes is often as high as 50 per cent. 
(See fuel, page 11.) 

Burning ANTHRACITE or HARD COAL, a 
smaller fire is required, especially in Patent Ovens. 
Don't smother the fire with piling too much fresh coal 
on top of it, especially if wet. (see fuel.) The smaller 
the size of the coal, the more you will choke or chill the 
fire and obstruct or prevent combustion, besides burn¬ 
ing out the grate bars, (see page 9) Percentage of 
ashes varies from 8 to 24 per cent in hard coal. When 
coal is wet, the coking system mentioned above will be 
found of great advantage. Firing hard coal in Draw- 
plate Ovens, I prefer Chestnut and Egg mixed. For 
direct firing Furnace Ovens, Egg Coal is the best size. 



Part 5 


2i 


For Reel and Rotary Ovens, larger sizes are prefer¬ 
able ; Egg or Stove or both mixed; but I prefer coke 
in either oven. 

COKE, as stated before (see fuel) is composed of 
about 89 per cent pure carbon, or plainly speaking, 
gives 89 per cent heat and only about 10 per cent ashes. 
Many bakers make the mistake when burning coke, to 
start the fire too slow. The coke being honeycombed 
and leaving so much space for air to pass through, 
you should fill the furnace considerable more then with 
coal, and also pull the damper wide open, until there 
are no more dark spots to be seen in the fire. The arch 
as well as the coke must show almost a bright light red 
heat, which should take from 40 to 50 min. Then close 
the damper, leaving about one inch opening for the 
escape of the gases. After, say two hours from time 
of firing, you will notice no more flame or just the least 
bit of a bluish tongue of flame; then you close damper 
down tight, and the heat will last from 10 to 12 hours. 
Coke fires never need much shaking of grate or poking 
of fire. When once you have a solid fire, the most that 
may be required, is to pull damper two or three inches 
after several hours for 15 or 20 min. To get a good 
solid heat from coke, let first firing burn up brisk, then 
shake down or poke a little, to settle; then fire the 
second time which will be sufficient to last for a day’s 
baking. 

The most important rule to get best results from 
any kind of fuel in a Patent or Hot Air Chamber Oven 
is, to let fire draw brisk first, then close damper half 
until top arch and sides show bright red clear back to 
flues. This is what produces storage heat, because so 
long as the fire draws and the dampers are open, the 
heat will pass through the chambers rushing for the 
chimney. I can demonstrate the value of solid heat in 
a good Patent Continuous baking brick Oven best, 
from our own report of our average Friday’s Baking 
(for Saturday) which means about forty-six thousand 
loaves. Our ten continous baking ovens which have 



Part 5 


25 


not been fired after ten o’clock Friday morning are 
almost continually used from one A. M. Friday to one 
A. M. Saturday, full 24 hours. No baking being done 
on Saturday, they stand idle, and instead of cooling off 
(with no fire in the furnace) the accumulated heat 
penetrates the oven chamber, and by Saturday we even 
open front oven door, (baking chamber) and smoke 
damper for several hours, to let the heat out and start 
baking Sunday morning with practically the heat left 
over from previous Friday. The fire started Saturday 
night will not have full effect until Sunday noon or at 
least 6-8 hours after being started. Just get the arch 
to white heat once in twenty-four hours, and you can 
bake bread continually. However, if such ovens must 
be cooled down for cakes, it is a matter of many hours 
to get the solid heat back again. 

Ovens used exclusively for Hearth Bread must 
have a good bottom heat to give the loaves a good 
spring, otherwise they run flat. Drawing so much heat 
continuously, a larger fire must necessarilly be kept in 
the furnace, but little or no extra draft is required, 
the object being to keep the heat lingering under the 
Oven chamber as much as possible. An occasional 
rest is of great benefit and the Thermometer or Pyro¬ 
meter will go up 20 to 30 degrees in a short time. 

IF MIXED BAKING, Bread, Cakes and Pies are 
to be done in one oven, the DIRECT FIRED brick or 
portable oven is very popular. As already explained 
(see ovens) grate is set a few inches below level of 
oven sole. I advise a banked fire to be kept all during 
time there is no baking, and giving it before baking is 
commenced a slow draft to allow the product of com¬ 
bustion, seen in long pale tongues, to spread and 
linger along the crown or top of oven chamber. There 
are several styles of modern PORTABLE OVENS 
with furnace below the baking chamber which turn out 
a large amount of well baked goods. It is to be 
specially recommended, to start a moderate fire ai long 
as possible before baking time to get a more uniform, 





26 


Part 5 


steady heat. Natural gas being used as fuel, I have 
always found it a fuel saver and heat preserver to pile 
some fire brick loosely in the fire box or furnace for the 
gas flames to pass around them. 


Judging Heat by Color. 


Temperature 

Fahreaheit. 

COLOR. 

Temperature 

Fahrenheit. 

COLOR. 

900° 

Red (dull) 

1900° 

Orange 

1200 

Red (dark) 

2100 

Yellow 

1400 

Red (cherry) 

2300 

White 

1600 

Red (bright) 

Over 2500 

While (dazzling) 


Melting Point of Different Metals. 


Name. 

Degree F. 

Name. 

Degree F. 

Tin 

446° 

Copper 

1996° 

Lead 

608 

Glass 

2377 

Zinc 

680 

Iron (cast) 

2450 

Aluminum 

1400 

Steel 

2500 

Bronze 

1692 

Gold (pure) 

2590 

Silver 

1873 

Iron (wrought) 

2912 

Brass 

1900 

Platinum 

3080 



























Part 5 


27 


DRAFT. 

Draft is a current of air, and as we have learned 
from chapter on combustion, air is the life of fire, and 
the briskness of the fire depends entirely on the proper 
amount of air supplied. Therefore, it is most impor¬ 
tant to have proper facilities to increase or decrease 
this current of air (Draft.) To control or regulate 
the draft, we need the draft door on the ash-pit (below 
the fire) and the damper in flues or chimney (above 
the fire.) They work in conjunction with each other. 
Either one worked alone will be a waste of heat or 
fuel. The draft door should be so arranged that it 
can be kept wide open, half open or nearly closed, or 
it must be perforated and supplied with a slide to reg¬ 
ulate the air supply. The size of furnace depends on 
kind of fuel used. Soft coal being lighter than hard 
coal, requires more area for the same amount (by 
weight) as hard coal. When burning coke, the grate 
can be set a few inches below the dead plate in front 
and the bridge in back of the grate, a larger amount 
of coke being fired at one time, than coal. This is 
especially to be considered in direct or inside fired 
ovens. The grates, most always made of cast iron, 
do not only hold the fuel, but also admit the air, and 
for that reason must have open spaces between the 
supports. At least half the grate surface must be air 
space, the other half (the bars) serving to hold the 
fuel. There are different styles of grates used by 
different Oven Manufacturers. The single bar grate 
is very popular; about 2^ to 3 feet in length. The 
thickness of the lugs on both ends determine the 
width of the open spaces of the grate. These bars are 
more or less sloping (thinner) on the bottom, which 
gives a better air supply. Another style used more 
for very small coal (as in boilers), is the Herringbone. 

SHAKING GRATES are preferred by many 
bakers and used in most all portable ovens, and are 
especially an advantage where the square fire-box or 
round pot is set below the furnace proper. Another 



28 


Part 5 


great advantage of a shaking grate, is because the 
furnace door can be kept closed while raking the fire, 
and no smoke or ashes will blow into the shop. The 
inrush of cold air over the fire through the open fur¬ 
nace door (the damper always being opened when 
shaking fires) is also avoided, which means preventing 
a loss of heat. 

The furnace door should also be perforated and 
have a slide, especially when coke or soft coal, rich 
in carbohydrates are burned, as in this way, some air 
can be admitted over the top of the fire to mix with 
the gases which linger on top of fire, causing com¬ 
bustion of same. The admission of steam or water 
under the grate or furnace does not produce more 
heat, as some bakers imagine. It is only of benefit 
when coal are used, which stick to the grate bars or 
clinker badly; the steam coming from below will 
prevent this to some extent, keep the grate clear and 
also keep it from burning or melting. A better dis¬ 
tribution of air and more complete combustion is the 
result, which also means indirectly, a saving of fuel. 
But, care must be taken not to admit too much steam, 
and I recommend the safer method of keeping a 
basin of water in the ash-pit, or better still, to have 
the bottom ash-pit cemented, and a few inches lower 
than the floor, keeping a small pool of water in same. 
Glowing pieces of fuel dropping through the grate 
will create sufficient steam for this purpose. 

CHIMNEY AND FLUES. 

The chimney answers two purposes; (1) to create 
a natural draft for the fire; (2) to carry off the ob¬ 
noxious gases of combustion and the smoke. The 
area and height of a chimney and the position of its 
top outlet to the surrounding buildings, has an im¬ 
portant bearing when erecting a chimneiy. Gases, 
hot air and smoke always ascend in a spiral column, 
which means, for instance, that a ten by ten-inch 
square chimney flue is no better or its practical work- 




Part 5 


O') 

/V •/ 


ing area no more extensive than a ten-inch round 
flue. There is also less friction in a round chimney 
flue than in a square one, because the spiral ascent of 
the draft moves more easily. The efficiency of the 
chimney (flue) depends on volume of passage due 
to area (size of flue) and velocity due to height of 
chimney. Therefore, the suction or speed alone do 
not make perfect draft; there must also be sufficient 
room to carry off the smoke. The chimney top should 
reach above the surrounding buildings if possible, 
as wind currents will rebound or be checked by walls 
or roofs in their way, and will force the air down into 
the chimney. It is also well known that there is quite 
a difference in draft of a chimney in summer or hot 
days and that produced in winter or cold days. On 
damp and murky days the draft is especially poor, and 
it is more difficult to get sufficient heat out of the fuel. 

The outside air passing over the top of chimney, 
say ranges between 40 and 85 degrees on an average, 
while the hot gases passing through the chimney 
average from 400 to 450 degrees. Bulk for bulk, the 
outside air has about twice the weight of the hot gases 
In localities high above the sea level, where air is 
rarified or thinner, a larger volume of same must be 
supplied to get sufficient oxygen for combustion. 

The wind or air currents passing over the chim¬ 
ney, carry off the gases or hot air and smoke as they 
come from the furnace, also create a suction or draft. 
With a high wind blowing, the fuel will burn away 
more or less briskly, even if the draft door (ash-pit) 
is closed as long as damper in chimney or flue is wide 
or even only partly open. The inside area of a chim¬ 
ney should never be less than 9 or 10 inches if round, 
or 8 X 12 rectangular, or 10 x 10 square, or always be 
a little larger than the end of stove pipe or flue where 
it leads into the chimney. Never have the end of 
stove-pipe, bricks or casing of flue, etc., extend beyond 
the inside surface or wall of chimney, neither allow 
any crevices or leaks, as the least obstruction prevents 





30 


Part 5 


the free passage of gas and smoke. The inside walls 
of chimney should be as smooth as possible. Some 
masons are very careless in this respect. The inside 
finish of a chimney is certainly of more importance 
than the outside, and every baker should watch the 
erection of any new chimney very carefully. Every 
oven should have its own chimney flue if possible, and 
no other flues or stove-pipes running into it. For a 
Two Oven chimney, it is best to allow a double area, 
and have a thin partition running up through the 
center. Sharp bends or offsets in the chimney will 
also reduce the area and choke the draft. If there is 
a soot pocket in the chimney below the point where 
the smoke-pipe or oven flue runs into the chimney, 
the same should never be deeper than one or two feet, 
and the slide or door of same must be kept closed 
perfectly tight. 

DAMPERS are checks or valves in or above the 
chimney, and control the draft. On Continuous Bak¬ 
ing and Portable Ovens, dampers usually have the 
shape of a slide, to be operated from front of oven, 
by a rod. On Draw-plate and Reel Ovens, the damp¬ 
ers generally consist of a drop door or lid, fitted over 
top of chimney, and are operated by a chain. The 
reason for the latter arrangement is, on Reel Ovens, 
especially used for crackers, there must be a constant 
flash heat and a quick draft and frequent manipulation 
of damper is necessary. On Draw-plate Ovens, the 
heating surface (see ovens) is so small, that the Are 
must be drawing nearly all the time, more or less, 
and the drop door on top of chimney is more efficient 
for the purpose. I would not recommend to have the 
inside area of chimney reduced toward the top, es¬ 
pecially when solid fuel is burned, coal or coke. Some 
bakers think by running the brick chimney only half 
way the required length, and putting a pipe on top, 
they save money. But alas, they have more annoy¬ 
ance from smoke or poor draft, and do not get the 
full heat value out of the fuel. Theoretically, anthra- 



Part 5 


31 


cite or hard coal requires more draft than soft coal, 
but on account of the latter having a greater propor¬ 
tion of gaseous products of combustion, the flue area 
must be larger for burning soft coal than for anthra¬ 
cite. The height of chimney does not matter materi¬ 
ally, but the difference in area of the flue required may 
be as high as 30 per cent, or a flue 8 x 12, good for 
hard coal fire, may have to be increased to 10 x 12 
for soft coal. So, when changing from one coal to 
another, it is often well worth looking up the available 
chimney area. Coke requires a good draft, but burn¬ 
ing easily without smoke, the area of chimney can be 
limited without danger to draft. 

To clean out flues and chimney, I throw salt on the fire 
and open damper. Amount of salt depends upon area to he 
cleaned. The sulphurous gases eat the suds in a Very short 
time. I use rock, salt, from three to six pounds. 

STEAM. 

A certain amount of steam or moisture is required 
for the heat of the baking chamber during baking. 
The amount, of course, varies widely, and every baker 
knows that especially for Rye and Vienna Bread and 
Rolls, in fact anything baked direct on the Oven-hearth, 
. a larger amount of steam is necessary, and the supply 
of steam must be replenished; therefore, it is essen¬ 
tial that no steam can escape. In inside fired ovens, 
the direct fire leaves more or less moisture in the oven 
chamber. In smaller bakeries, with only one oven, 
perhaps a portable one, with no live steam supply, you 
may produce sufficient moisture by placing a pan of 
water near the fire-place and get it boiling. However, 
small boilers of sufficient capacity can now be bought 
so reasonable, that it will be a paying investment ev^n 
for the small baker, as he can do all his cooking, pie 
filling, icings, mush, etc., in shorter time, and have a 
liberal supply of steam for proofboxes. Most Oven 
Builders also make it a point to supply steam or hot 
water boilers to their ovens on request. However, I 
prefer an independent boiler as a safer proposition. 



32 


Part 5 


as you can raise or lower your steam supply or pres¬ 
sure at any time with very little fuel and in a few min¬ 
utes. For larger bakeries, of course, more steam and 
larger boilers are required. However, the pressure 
should not be over 30 lbs., and always carry plentv 
water in the boiler, at least 2 to 2^^ gauges, to keep the 
steam moist. Dry steam or too much steam in oven 
‘is worse than not any at all. Some bakers think steam 
is steam, and always alike, and I have found it difficult 
to convince some of the old oven men that they can 
use too much steam. Of course, most ovens have a 
steam damper in the rear in the baking chamber, by 
which you can let surplus of flash heat and steam 
escape. 

Steam for Bakeovens is best at a pressure from 
15 to 30 pounds and the boiler should never be allowed 
to be less than half to two thirds full of water, indi¬ 
cated on the water gauge. While drawing the steam 
from boiler, you will notice the gauge (indicating the 
pressure) drop rapidly. Therefore, you must keep 
up a good fire. For this reason you may have 30 
pounds pressure at the start; it will then be easier to 
keep it from going below 15 pounds, which is called 
one Atmospheric pressure. 

Steam is like gas, expanding through application 
of heat. The temperature of steam increases with the 
amount of pressure (indicated on the gauge) as shown 
in the following table: 

Pound Pressure Temp, of Steam 

0.212 degrees F. 

5 .227 degrees F. 

10 .239 degrees F. 

20 .259 degrees F. 

30 .274 degrees F. 

40 .286 degrees F. 

50 .300 degrees F. 

At about 320 degrees, F. steam is thoroughly 
*‘dry” and zvill just do the opposite to your bread, from 
what it is expected to do. 










Part 5 


33 


It will cause it to be “blind,” “shrink” the loaves 
or it wilPeven “char” the crust. Now as the tempera¬ 
ture of the Oven is about 450 degr. F., and on account 
of steam expanding with increase of heat, the oven 
will be full of superheated steam, when forcing it in 
quickly. “Through steam” or superheated is prac¬ 
tically invisible. What you see issuing from the spout 
of a closed tea-kettle, is condensed steam and visible as 
vapor. The lower temperature of surrounding at¬ 
mosphere chills or condenses the steam and naturally 
in cold weather you can see steam much plainer than 
in warm weather. You can notice that on your own 
breath. The only true steam issuing from the spout 
of a kettle or any other closed receptacle, (valve of a 
stearh boiler, etc.) is contained only in the small space 
immediately in front or on top of the point, where it 
issues into the atmosphere. You can notice this empty 
space very plain wherever steam escapes. 

Steam will always look for an outlet but does 
not descend below the highest point of exit, for in¬ 
stance, the oven door. For this reason, Vienna or Rye 
Bread Ovens are built sloping from back to front and 
the front door provided with a tin slide which can be 
lowered while peeling in Vienna or Rye Bread, to pre¬ 
vent the steam from escaping through oven door. 

A strong kettle or pot with tight cover and spout 
is preferable. A very simple arrangement for any oven 
is to run a one inch pipe over the fireplace or if oven 
is fired from below, run pipe along the inside wall, of 
oven chamber; the pipe is connected with the cold 
water and is perforated. The pipe takes on about the 
same heat as the oven chamber and when you turn on 
a little cold water it will instantly turn into steam and 
spread through the oven. 

OVEN RECORDS. 

Every baker, no matter how small or how large 
his business should keep occasionally a record of a 
whole day’s baking of one or more ovens, marking 
down the heat variations, fuel consumed, amount of 



34 


Part 5 


baking turned out, time oven is fired, etc. I refer to 
my own Oven Record Cards, samples of which I re¬ 
produce herewith (filled out). With these cards I 
was able to cut down the fuel gradually to less than 
one half the amount previously used. My fireman 
knows the character of every one of our ten ovens 
exactly, how much fuel every one requires, how often 
to fire, when to close dampers, etc., of course in our 
bakery the heat recording is much simplified as our 
Ovens are equipped with Electric Pyrometers, all oper¬ 
ated from one switch-board and all recording the exact 
heat of each oven. I find that 450 degrees F. is the 
proper heat to start Bread Baking. I give here a 
record of the variations indicated on the “dial” of the 
switch-board for each oven, at different hours during 
one day’s baking. 


Record of Heat Variations. 


TIME AND DEGREES OF HEAT. 


ruei 

i>o. wven 

11 P.M. 

2 A. M. 

6 A. M. 

10A.M. 

4P. M. 

8 P.M. 

Coke 

1. 

435 

450 

430 

420 

430 

435 

Coke 

2. X 

440 

445 

395 

390 

405 

435 

Coal 

3. 

450 

460 

430 

415 

430 

440 

Coal 

4. X 

435 

450 

400 

385 

405 

425 

Coke 

5. X 

440 

455 

395 

395 

390 

430 

Coal 

6. X 

450 

460 

405 

395 

420 

415 

Coal 

7. X 

445 

455 

400 

390 

395 

420 

Coke 

8. 

450 

450 

440 

435 

430 

445 


9. 

Oven 

in Re 

peiir 




Coal 

10. 

440 

440 

445 

445 

430 

435 


Ovens marked X are used for Hearth bread, which 
accounts for the drop in temperature. Firing started 
at 11 P. M., Baking started at about 3 A. M. 

























Part 5 


35 


OVEN REPORT. 


BRAUN’S •' PRACTICAL" SYSTEM^ 

Oven Wo. /• Date/ / // 6 ' 


No. 

Lotves 

No. 

Sets 

NAME 

Time 

IN 

Time 

PUT 

Degrees 

HEAT 

Time 

FIRED 

Amount 


2a 0 

(^0 

ffitnn^iyyyinyiJ 

a.'m- 

t-f- ^iA 

¥~ 

¥&0 



33^> 


C*^r{ , 

fOJi. 

,r-2i 

0 

¥,ra. 



?^oo 

(dO 

y3yU<jll(fS^LM^ 



o' 

p—. 

//Sjr 

oo/L 

'iQO 

(p-0. 

// n 

(>i± 

7 ^ 

yyr 






/e£ 


0 

¥^0 

A^M> 


J90 

/O 

Tf^/ 

10“- 

/on 

¥3f 

/¥J 


17.1 

f 

nf 

IQ^ 

//i£ 





y/ 

^Lu/iJ^li^jj- /o 

His. 


HOO 



300 

{oO 

l^AJLyjlvikhlJi^ 

JO. 

j 5 S' 

¥3f 

A-fj- 

foA. 

33h 


Cyfyff/pjqx 

4^ 

m. 

¥30 



/f<X 

yl'tiU 

lo 

\( / 

liAjty^i'OyLOu . 



¥30 



^.7 a 

sTy 


5'£2 


¥A 




5"^ 

C^Jt:ay3A. 

7 -t£ 

7 

¥70 




¥0 

WA. . 


g-ic 

¥¥A 











3U3 


~4yLhC^ 








































Part 5 


sn 





OVEN REPORT. 

BRAUN'S "PRACTICAL” SYSTEM. 


Oven No. 



Date 


A 


O. 


N«. 

Loavet 

No. 

Seta 

NAME 

TImo 

IN 

fime 

tfUT 

\ 

Q 

i 

Time 

FIBED 

Amount 

-- 

— 


— 

— 



PH,-' 

nA 

lU 



//^ 

liL- 

SPO 


2^ " 

32. 

/ 

//^ 


0 

iToo 


3G " 

/?^ 

32 

n 

I'J. 

/■a 

0 

6'Ajl. 





C^I*tyVl A^U. /lc( 



0 

51ao 

-- 

— 





3'X 


a 

3(,/l 


3Jl. 

CjL^Au. ^ 

3 il 

^s£ 






J 



i 00 

— 


/iX_ 


<1 

yi-a 


o 

soo 


2 j/A, 

/,yy 


'/ 



iT^)^ 

— 


/^'(p 

A. G 

a 

k 2^ 


0 

^3J 

SA-/JL 

































/iTf^ 







































































PART 6. 


Modern Bread Making, 
Machinery and Equipment. 

MACHINE MADE BREAD. 

It is an established fact that “machine” made bread 
is far superior to “hand” made bread; that there is a 
saving of at least 10 percent of flour to the barrel by 
reason of perfect sifting and loosening of the flour in 
the blending and sifting apparatus; that the mixing is 
more perfect; that the mixing machine does away with 
the hard labor; that the divider scales the bread more 
accurate and more quickly than men can weigh it 
by hand and that the moulding machine moulds the 
loaves more perfectly and more uniform. If you 
make sponge doughs, you also need a dough brake. All 
this means better and more uniform bread every day, 
which consequently means increased demand for 
bakers’ bread. The missing link has been furnished 
by the automatic proving apparatus to recover the 
spring of the dough between the divider, or scaling 
machine, and the moulder. 

Some bakers still look at machinery as an expense 
because it costs money to buy it. They do not seem 
to consider the same as an investment that will pay 
larger percent in dividends, or interest than the money 
would if it was invested in anything else. It will even 
pay to borrow the money from the bank and pay 5 or 
6 percent interest (as some of the larger bakers do 
when making improvements), because the machinery 
will earn more through saving on labor, better yield, 
more uniform bread, better quality and increased sales 




2 


Part 6 


through better sanitary conditions. To sum it up, 
as an economical investment, machinery can’t be beat. 

It is positively proven that the employment of 
machinery has shortened the working hours of the 
men. The average output per man in a bakeshop 
equipped with machinery, increases from 20 to 40 per¬ 
cent, according to the efficiency of the system of 
regulating the working methods. Furthermore, a 
machine does not get tired, and when once adjusted 
to do the work right, it will do it right always, pro¬ 
vided, of course, it is handled right. 

Very true, indeed. But quite a bit of the blame is 
to be brought home to the machine man. Assisted by 
glaring figures and enticing testimonials, he shows 
the prospective customer how much he can save in 
labor, time and money. But as soon as a contract is 
signed and a machine set up and delivered, the baker 
is left with his fate and his machines. As it often 
happens, there is not a man in the shop who has han¬ 
dled machinery before, or, having been used to some 
other style of machinery, swears by that one, imagines 
that that one is “it ” and that no other will do. By 
proper adjustment of fermentation, handling of doughs, 
etc., it is not necessary that the machine “kill” the 
dough. 

We must adapt ourselves and our dough to the 
character of the machine, and study the same. A baker 
must not expect to lay off a dozen men the first week 
he has installed a new machine; and after the work 
of the machine is satisfactory he must have one of 
the men at least made familiar with the construction 
of the machine, and held responsible to keep it properly 
oiled and cleaned. This man should also be able to 
take the machine apart and put it together again for 
the same purpose. 

Now about the samples of the bread which are re¬ 
produced herewith. Figures 1 and 2 are from one 
dough (about 1,000 pounds). They are manipulated 
in different ways, and I leave it to my readers to judge 




Part 6 


3 



Fig. 1.—Loaf made up all by hand. 

for themselves which is the better looking loaf in 
texture. In flavor they are alike, and both good. 
The other illustration (Fig. 3) shows a loaf of “ma¬ 
chine-made” bread from a different kind of dough, 
fermentation being altogether different, long sponge 
and stiffer dough. None of these doughs have been 
“killed” with the machines. 

In favor of machinery, which applies to Mixer, 
Moulding Machine and Scaling Machine (or Divider), 
I would mention as one of the strongest points in 
their favor, ‘‘uniformity/' The more men you have 
in mixing dough (or at the scales, or on the bench), 



Fig. 2. —Loaf from same dough (as Fig. 1), run through Brake, Divider 

and Moulding Machine. 



4 


Part 6 


the more different kinds of dough you have to reckon 
with, and the more light weight and heavy weight 
loaves you get, and the more different shaped and 
tight or loose moulded loaves will go into the proof 
room,—if the work is all done by hand. 

If the different kinds of bread dough are to be 
run though the machines, you have to carry on your 
fermentation accordingly. Some bakers make all kinds 
of bread out of the same kind of doughs, while each 
loaf should have its own characteristics, flavor and 
texture. 



Fig.3.—Pullman Loaf from old sponge dough, run through 
Brake (five times), Divider and Moulder, 

One peculiarity of machine made bread is the dif¬ 
ference between the action of the divider and brake 
on the same dough. The divider breaks the cells and 
makes the dough somewhat raw and wet, but does not 
reduce the acidity or gas to any great extent, and does 
not hasten the final fermentation or raising of the 
loaves in the proof room. The brake, on the other 
hand (provided it is not set too close), merely squeezes 
out the gas and acid, but does not break up the cells 
or the ^kin of the dough. 

Run a piece from the same dough through the 
divider, and even through the moulder, and you will 
find the loaves raise quicker than if the brake had 





Part 6 


6 


not been used. It will also be noticed that the divider 
will not deliver the loaves so wet or sticky if the dough 
is passed through the brake first. 

Furthermore, if the dough is run through the brake 
before being deposited in the hopper of the divider, 
the scaling device on the divider must be set back 
at least one or two ounces. That means that for a 
sixteen ounce loaf it is to be set to only fourteen and 
a half, otherwise, the loaves will usually come out 
too heavy. The brake facilitates the work of the 
divider by rendering the pressure more uniform and 
regular. But this is not to say that the modern di¬ 
viders are unsatisfactory, or to be condemned. 

Some bakers claim that the brake destroys the 
flavor of the bread. This is only the case with over¬ 
fermented dough, and when run through the brake 
too many times.. 

There is no such thing as a dough mixing machine 
“killing the dough,” or a dividing machine “bleeding” 
the dough to death, or the moulding machine “taking 
the life out of the loaf,” if you understand the ma¬ 
chines, and do not expect too much of either of them 
the first week or the first month. Use some judg¬ 
ment ; have a bit of patience and perseverence; give 
the machines their proper care, and there will be no 
reason for “kicking” or disappointment. 

I wish to say that too much must not be expected 
of the machines. They are of no use unless common 
sense is used; and unless it is used, you are no better 
off with them than without them. 

FLOUR BLENDING AND SIFTING. 

The first step in beginning work in the shop is 
the blending and sifting of the flour. Blending has 
already been explained, but I just want to mention 
the importance of blending again. I have found by 
mixing and sifting different flours together ahead and 
letting them stand as long as possible, improves the 
flour. For instance, a rich Winter and a hard North- 





6 


Part 6 


ern second Patent or straight sifted together improves 
the flavor of the Northern flour. I have frequently 
found that the amount of gluten recovered from a 
blend of two or three different flours is larger than 
the amount of gluten recovered from each flour rep- 
arately added together. This cause is the action of 
the soluble albuminoids of the softer flour on the 
gluten of the harder flour. 

One of the fundamental rules is ''that all flour used 
must he sifted” The extra time required will be well 
repaid by improving the quality of the flour and giving 
better yield in the dough. 

There is no reasonable excuse possiblle, even in the 
small shop without machinery, for using flour without 
sifting. Not only must we make sure that all impurities 
and strings, fuz, etc., are removed, but we areate and 
improve the flour by sifting. Even the flour used for 
dusting, either on the bench or on the machines, should 
have our special attention, and only sifted flour should 
be used. Because this flour is used raw, it is of more 
importance than most bakers realize. I have found 
that it pays "to use the highest grade, best flavored and 
best colored dour for dusting” I have been amazed 
by the near-sightedness of some otherwise shrewd men 
in the baking business, making the mistake of buying 
an extra cheap flour, frequently off in flavor or color, 
for dusting. 

I say don’t do it; it does not pay. You use every 
means to improve your bread, but reduce the quality 
willfully (if unconsciously) by adding raw, unfer¬ 
mented flour of inferior value at these last stages of 
the process of making a good loaf of bread. For Rye 
bread I also found it of advantage to sift some of the 
best flavored pure rye flour together with some dry 
wheat flour for dusting in moulding the loaves. 

Mixing the Dough. If this is done by hand, dough 
wants to be well shaken down and frequently kneaded 
and cut over. However, as a one barrel dough takes 



Part 6 


7 


one horse power continuously to mix and knead a 
dough of from 15 to 20 minutes, it will require several 
men to produce the same dough in that time, as one 
man cannot deliver more than one-sixth of a horse¬ 
power for any length of time. The increase in yield 
is due to the machine or mixer, develops the gluten 
better and makes dough smoother. Dough Mixers 
are now made in sizes from 13^2 to 6 barrels capacity, 
to suit any baker, and the so-called self-contained 
mixer (which means electric motor attached directly 
to mixer, without any shafting, extra pulleys and belt 
transmission) is especially adapted for the smaller 
bakery, where room is limited. 

The starting box or switch-board should be right 
handy in front, if possible on the right side, so that the 
man in charge can reach it at any moment with his 
hand, to turn on or stop the power. Mixers with one 
blade do not require as much power as those with 
double blades. For a smaller shop, having only one 
mixer, it is advisable to have a two speed arrangement. 
Also figure one or two horse power more than is 
actually needed. 

There are now on the market whole outfits for the 
smaller bakery, including bread mixer, flour sifter and 
blender, cake mixer and egg beater, all driven by one 
motor and taking comparatively little space. These 
machines can all be run together, or each one alone, 
by arrangement of clutches. 

If mixer is very cold in winter, it is advisable to 
let it run for a few minutes with a little boiling water 
or take only part of water for first sponge or dough 
and make this thirty or forty degrees warmer, to 
warm up mixer before adding balance of water and 
flour. 

Where sponges and doughs are made in one mixer, 
a two speed machine is of special advantage. Sponge 
can be mixed as fast speed, so also all smaller doughs 
and slack doughs. Sponge does not need to be broken 



8 


Part 6 


up so much as for hand made dough. The mixer, by 
either stretching or pulling (by double blades) and 
kneading and pressing (by single arm blades) obliter¬ 
ates every little piece of the sponge, thus making the 
dough smoother or homogeneous. 

A machine made dough when newly made, feels 
more solid and tougher than a hand made dough; the 
former being mixed more solid and much closer in 
texture. Although I am not in favor of running a 
dough at too slow a speed (not below 22 revolutions) 
I am not in favor of over-mixing a dough. I believe 
where a dough is mixed to the limit, to get the gluten 
to absorb all the water possible^ it gets like rubber 
and expands with the gas; very large, thin bubbles 
appear on top of such usually very slack doughs; 
those break, the gas escapes, and considerable of the 
flavor goes with it. I call this excessive, and as a proof 
that it is forced energy, I mention that in such slack 
doughs mixed to the limit, the amount of yeast used 
is generally nearly double the amount as used in the 
warmer, little stiffer doughs mixed slower say 400 
to 450 revolutions. 

There is not as much of a saving in using eight or 
ten pounds more water to a barrel of flour, as may be 
expected, because more yeast must be used, and that 
is more expensive than flour. Of course dough gets 
whiter, and texture or grain more uniform,—but all 
at expense of flavor. There is also such a thing as 
getting too much air, especially oxygen into a dough 
by running the mixer long at fast speed. This has 
been explained before as to its effect on sponges and 
stiff doughs. 

TEMPERATURE IN DOUGHROOM AND 
PROOFING ROOM. 

Excessixe heat in dough room and proofing room 
closets must be avoided. With temperature at 85 de¬ 
grees or over in the dough room, or 92 or over in the 
proofing closets, or steam room, the dough in bulk 




Part 6 


9 


(in trough) or in the pans produce too much gas 
(C02) and too much acid, and in consequence fer¬ 
mentation becomes “wild.” The gas cells, or rather 
gluten cells, holding the gas, in any sound dough which 
has been mixed and raised under proper conditions, 
are regular during any stage of fermentation. Pull¬ 
ing up a piece of any sound, cool dough, and stretch¬ 
ing it after it has stood about two or three hours, it 
will show a network of regular uniform web-like 
meshes, which, (if not neglected in the proofing and 
if baked in proper heated oven) will show the same 
network only in smaller meshes when baked. There 
are two distinct species of cells in the grain of any 
loaf of bread, the same as in the dough; they are 

In a dough made at a temperature of 80 degrees 
or less and mixed very thoroughly and not too soft, 
and not containing over three ounces of salt to the 
gallon, the ce/ls are mostly oval and regular. These, 
as a rule, also cut smoother, and texture is firmer. The 
other specie of cells (round and looser) are predomi¬ 
nant in a dough of 83 degrees or over and not mixed 
so long, and containing from 334 to 4 ounces of salt 
to the gallon, such as Home-made Bread, New Eng¬ 
land, etc. 

’ If either of these doughs, however, are allowed 
to go beyond the regular calculated time for fermenta¬ 
tion or proofing, for some unavoidable reason or delay, 
or through neglect of the men, the grain becomes 
coarse, the color gets bad, and the flavor loses its 
sweetness. The only relief to remove coarseness and 
restore whiteness, is by rolling such dough through 
the brake. (See Part 6.) But if the loaves after 
being moulded are over-proofed or forced by exces¬ 
sive steam in the proof-room, there is no more relief. 
(See Part 6.) As mentioned before, the flavor of 
the bread is not controlled or improved by the grain 
or texture, and in some cases grain and color are only 
improved at the expense of the flavor. 



10 


Part 6 


ELECTRICITY. 

Electricity is the most mysterious force or phe¬ 
nomenon in nature. 

Although invisible, it manifests itself in various 
ways. The exact nature of electricity is still puzzling 
the wizards. They know the effects it produces, and 
by studying these, have found methods for controlling 
it, and have established laws and rules by which this 
mighty invisible power can be used and governed. 
Electricity is divided into three branches. 

I. MAGNETISM. 

There are natural magnets found in all parts of 
the world. They are an oxide of iron and called load¬ 
stones. They have the power of magnetizing and 
attracting other bodies to them. Artificial magnets 
are made by rubbing together a piece of steel and 
loadstone. 


II. STATIC ELECTRICITY. 

This appears as a charge on the surface of a sub¬ 
stance. 

This branch is noticeable principally in two ways; 
by friction and induction, (a) Friction is explained by 
the simple experiment of rubbing a piece of amber 
on a piece of wool. Heat is generated but it also attains 
the power to attract small pieces of paper and hold 
them to it, acting in this respect the same as a magnet, 
(b) Induction means to take one substance charged 
with electricity and by holding it near or placing it 
on a second substance the second also becomes charged. 
When a substance becomes charged, or electrified, the 
electricity it possesses is of two kinds. These are called 
positive (-f) and negative (—). By experiment it 
has been proven that electric charges of the same 
sign repell each other, while those of opposite sign 
attract each other. This proven fact explains the 



Part 6 


11 


power of the magnet. Holding a foreign substance 
near a magnet it becomes charged with the + and — 
electricity. The -f- and — poles of the magnet then 
attract the opposite poles of the newly charged sub¬ 
stance. The surface and space surrounding the mag¬ 
net is called the magnetic field. 

HI. DYNAMIC ELECTRICITY. 

By this we study or consider the flow or action of 
electricity in currents. In the preceding paragraphs 
the static charge was shown to pass from one body to 
another and after repeatedly charging one or more 
bodies its power to keep on charging becomes ex¬ 
hausted. That is if you can overload it, the charging 
power is so diminished that it has no further effect on 
the overload. Now if electricity could be supplied as 
fast as it is given off, we would only need to connect 
the positive and negative poles to maintain a continu¬ 
ous flow. This is what we call forming the circuit, 
and the flow which becomes continuous is termed the 
current. The battery both dry and liquid performs 
this duty for light work. But we will deal further on 
with dynamos and motors as these are the machines we 
have most in use in the bake-shop. 

The principles of all dynamos are the same, that is 
they posses three essential features. 

I. A magnetic field. 

II. A conductor called an armature, in which the 
electro motive force is generated by some movement 
in relation to the lines of force in the magnetic field. 

III. A commutator or collector from which the 
current is conducted to the main supply wires by two 
or more conducting brushes. 

In practice, No. I is carried out by placing a 
number of electro magnets in the form of a circle. 
This leaves a round space or magnetic field across 
which the magnetic lines of force pass from one set 





12 


Part 6 


of magnets to another. No. II, revolving at a rapid 
speed in the space formed by No. 1, becomes charged 
or develops electricity. This electricity then passes 
on to No. Ill, which is a part of and revolves with 
No. II, and is carried to the supply lines through 
carbon brushes which rub or come in contact with 
the surface. The power to make No. II and No. 
Ill revolve in the space formed by No. I must be sup>- 
plied by some mechanical energy, such as a steam or 
gas engine. So much for the dynamo. 

The motor is practically the same as the dynamo. 
Owing to the different and varied work required of 
them they are constructed along different lines but still 
embody the same principles, namely magnetic fields, 
armatures and commutators, but motors are caused to 
revolve by electricity instead of mechanical power. The 
electricity is fed from the main line through the carbon 
brushes. Then the commutator and armature being 
charged are affected by magnetism from the charged 
electro magnets and are caused to revolve. A driving 
pulley attached to the shaft of the revolving armature 
is what gives us our mechanical energy. 

The apparatus used in connection with alternating 
current installations differs in general from that used 
in connection with direct current systems and on ac¬ 
count of the nature of alternating currents, the latter 
do not flow in accordance with the simple laws which 
govern the former. In direct current circuits the cur¬ 
rent flows continuously in one direction or in other 
words as time elapses the value of the current does 
not change. In alternating currents the direction of 
the flow is continually changing, and a current of a 
certain strength flows in a positive direction for a 
definite interval of time and then reverses and flows in 
the negative direction for a similar length of time 

The complete set of values which an alternating 
current passes through, from zero to a maximum 
and back to zero in a positive direction and through 



Part 6 


13 


these same values in a negative direction, is called 
a cycle. The number of cycles passed through in one 
second is called the frequency. An alternation is half 
a cycle. The number of cycles of any machine can be 
found by multiplying the number of pairs of poles by 
the revolutions per second of the machine. 

It is often preferred to express the frequency of 
an alternator in alternations per minute and therefore 
if an alternator has 60 cycles, i e 60 cycles per second 
(3,600 per minute) then, since there are two alterna¬ 
tions per cycle, the alternator gives 7,200 alternations 
per minute. 

Owing to the fact that the electro-motive-force 
called e. m. f. of an alternator does not reach its maxi¬ 
mum and minimum values at the same time as the 
current, they are said to be out of phase. If the arma¬ 
ture of an alternator is so wound that two circuits can 
be fed into it the machine is said to be two phase, and 
the currents in the two circuits differ in phase by 90°. 
Similarly if the armature is wound so that three cir¬ 
cuits can be fed into it, the machine is said to be 
three phase and the currents in the three circuits differ 
in phase by 120 degrees. 

The three phase motor with alternating current 
has proved to be the best adapted and cheapest for 
use in the bakery. 

From preceding text, we now know that the mag¬ 
nets form that part of the motor which surrounds 
the revolving cylinder. The armature is the part of 
the motor which revolves in the space surrounded by 
the magnets, and the commutator is the copper part 
attached to one end of the revolving armature and 
on which the brushes set. 

THE AMPERE is the practical unit denoting 
the rate of flow of an electric current or the strength 
of an electric current. 

THE OHM is the practical unit of resistance. 

THE VOLT is the practical unit of electrical 
potential, mean pressure. 




14 


Part 6 


ONE AMPERE is the amount of electricity that 
would pass through a circuit whose resistance is one 
ohm under the pressure of one volt. 

ONE OHM is the resistance that would limit the 
flow of electricity under a pressure or electric motive 
force (EMF) to a current of one ampere. 

ONE VOLT is the EMF or pressure that would 
cause a current of one ampere to flow against the 
resistance of one ohm. 

QUANTITY, ENERGY and POWER. 

The strength of a current is determined, as we 
explained in preceding paragraph, by the amount of 
electricity which passes the conductor in a given time, 
or in other words, the current strength expresses the 
rate at which electricity is developed. Therefore the 
quantity of electricity conveyed, depends upon the 
current strength and the time the current continues. 

THE COULOMB is the unit of quantity, and is 
equal to the amount of electricity which passes the 
conductor in one second when the current strength 
is one ampere. 

ENERGY, the unit used to express the amount of 
work done in mechanics, is known as the foot pound 
or the energy required to raise one pound one foot. 
In electrical work the unit of energy is the amount of 
work done when one coulomb flows between potential 
or pressure differing by one volt. 

The unit of electrical work is therefore, the volt- 
coulomb and is called the Joule. One Joule equals 
7,373 foot pounds. 

POWER. In mechanical work the unit of power 
is called the horsepower. In electrical work the unit 
of power is called the watt. The energy of one horse¬ 
power is 550 foot pounds per second. The energy of 
one watt is one Joule or 1373 foot pounds per second. 




Part 6 


15 


One watt is equal to 1-746 of a horsepower or one 
horsepower equals 746 watts. The watt is too small 
for convenient use, so the kilowatt is generally used. 
This is abbreviated K. W., and is equal to 1,000 watts, 
or about VA horsepower. The K. W. is the amount 
of work done when one K. W. is expended for one 
hour. So one K. W. hour equals 1,000 watt hours. 
The K. W. hour expresses a definite amount of work 
while the K. W. represents the rate at which the work 
is done. 

CONDUCTORS and NON-CONDUCTORS. 

Conductors of electricity are such bodies or sub¬ 
stances which of¥er a very weak resistance to the 
electricity or electric current to pass through them. 
Most metals, silver, copper, etc., are good conductors, 
so is charcoal and also the human body. 

Non-conductors or Insulators are such bodies or 
substances which do resist the electric current very 
effectively in passing through them. Very useful 
substances as insulators are: Porcelain, Glass, Par- 
raffine, Rubber or Gutta-percha, Oils, etc., also dry 
air resists the electric current, while moist air and 
ordinary water are very good conductors. 

One can readily see from these few paragraphs 
how important it is when ordering machinery to cor¬ 
rectly notify the manufacturer in regard to exact 
kind of motor and current in use in the shop. 

Electric power has been one of the greatest helps 
towards enabling the smaller bakers to use machinery 
of all kinds. Dough Mixers are now made with the 
electric motor set under the machine and connected 
by gearing, thus saving floor space, using no more 
space than a trough would occupy when mixing by 
hand. 

These machines are so built that the same motor 
can be used to drive other machinery, such as Flour 



16 


Part G 


Sifter, Flour Blending Plants, Cake Machine, Egg 
Beaters and Dividers, so that quite a large installation, 
with a capacity of 50 barrels of flour per day, can be 
run with one motor under the Mixer. 

The expense for electric power is small, being but 
one or two cents per barrel of flour, and the saving 
in labor in a shop where three to five barrels of flour 
are baked, will more than pay for an outfit of ma¬ 
chinery in six months’ time. 

USING GAS OR GASOLINE. 

Using a gas and gasoline engine there are several 
rules to be observed. 

1. The comparison must be right, and the ad¬ 
mission valve tight enough to admit just sufficient 
mixture (of gasoline and air) to take fire from the 
sparker. 

2 . The sparker must be kept clean, and work 
freely. 

3. The valves must be kept well ground down 
with emery, and well oiled. 

4. The spark must be made when the connecting 
rod is on the “up stroke/’ with the crankshaft two or 
three inches below the horizontal line of the center of 
the cylinder, which gives the greatest efficiency from 
the least amount of gas or gasoline. 



PART 7. 


System and Economy. 
Suggestions. 

A BREAD BAKER’S DIARY. 

I have found a daily record of unusual happen¬ 
ings or changes in the bakery quite useful for refer¬ 
ence, and recommend this for any bakery. A few 
samples may be of interest: 

JANUARY. 

1 st. Started new system in mixing room. Dough 
sheet is made out in the office for the mixer, giving 
him the figures for amount of each sponge and dough 
on printed sheet,—time to set, temperature, and he 
to mark down changes. It promises to work out all 
right. 

3rd. Extra order for 50 loaves of rye bread came 
in too late to make regular dough. Took 100 pounds 
of last (just ready for bench) back into the mixer; 
added 30 more pounds of water, at 82 degrees, 
pound yeast, 10 ounces salt and 35 pounds of rye mix 
flour (1-3 rye, 2-3 clear), also 5 pounds Kansas Patent. 
After mixing dough for about 8 minutes, let it rest 
only 10 minutes more, and put it on the bench. Made 
a nice large loaf. 

4th. The first doughs all coming too fast and wild. 
Mixer insisted he made no mistake. Finally traced 
trouble to salt, being from a new sack opened, which 
was very damp. Got another (dry) sack and it was 
all right. If salt is wet, have to use more. 




2 


Part 7 


5th. (Saturday.) Ordered flues in two patent 
ovens cleaned out. 

8th. Changed flour blend, adding 20 per cent 
Kansas Patent; but where Kansas is used, dough has 
better spring if not punched down; just pulled over 
to keep gas in and take to bench in shorter time. 

9th. On account of heavy snow-storm had trouble 
with electric lights. In lighting gas found many 
burners missing, causing some confusion and delay. 
Burners will be kept on hand now. 

14th. Changed half rye formula from sponge to 
straight dough. Use about 20 per cent strong Kansas 
patent, 60 per cent, clear spring and 20 per cent pure 
rye. Formula: 100 pounds water, 2 pounds yeast, 
I 70 pounds flour, 2^ to 2^ pounds salt, 3 pounds Sauer. 
Let come once good to 4 hours) then knock 

down, let raise second time, pull over and in half an 
hour it is ready for bench. Makes nice large rounded 
loaf. 6 to 8 pounds old dough is also advisable, but 
then it will be ready about half hour sooner. 

15th. Started baking cut loaves (Butternut) in the 
Drawplate Ovens. By running steam into the baking 
chamber five minutes before bread went in the loaves 
were all perfect; no blind ones. 

18th. (Friday.) Advertised almond coffee rings, 
15 and 20 cents. Orders came heavier than expected 
and will try it again. Sprinkled chopped almonds 
inside, with the sugar, before rolling cakes up, and 
also sprinkled some shredded almonds (blanched) on 
top, with granulated sugar, after cakes were washed 
with egg wash before baking. 

20th. Made some tests of molasses samples. Made 
a solution of 1 ounce soda with 16 ounces water. I 
mixed one ounce of this solution with 4 ounces of 
flour, 2 ounces of one sample of molasses, ^ ounce 
cooking oil. Put this dough in a little pan and 



Part 7 


3 


baked. Compared the different sample cakes, each 
being marked. Selected one (marked “O. P.”) for 
best color and flavor. 

21st. Car of Kansas flour taken in. Some bags 
were damp on bottom. Had them emptied and re¬ 
filled in dry sacks, only the bottom part (damp) spread 
out for drying. 

23rd. In cake shop comer a box of oily rags was 
discovered smouldering and burning from spontane¬ 
ous combustion. Ordered all rags now to be kept in 
galvanized iron cans. 

28th. Had motor thoroughly cleaned; was all 
clogged up. Vienna sponge taken too young and 
bread was small. Changed formula for buns, using 
now malt extract mixed with corn flour to a batter, 
letting stand a half hour; cut shortening and sugar 
down, using a little more yeast. Heavy snow still 
falling, after blizzard; traffic paralyzed. 

29th. Ordered new daily record slips for cake 
shop, to start by first of month. Cut out some mix¬ 
tures ; material cost running over 55 per cent. Re¬ 
vised other formulas. 

HOW TO PREPARE NEW PANS FOR USE. 

New bread pans must be baked before being used. 

This means they should be put in a medium hot 
oven (say between 350-400 degrees F.) for from 8 to 
10 minutes, or until they take on a bluish tint like 
steel. 

Then remove as quickly as possible from the oven, 
have one helper rub them out well with a rough but 
clean cloth, and grease thoroughly (inside) with pure 
lard. This must be done while pans are still very hot, 
so the lard can soak in. Let stand until partly cooled, 
then rub out once more with a cloth or a piece of 
dough. 



4 


Part 7 


Now the pans are ready for the regular greasing, 
which is best done with a round or flat greasing brush, 
as you must get into all the corners to prevent the 
bread from sticking, which happens so frequently with 
new pans. 

Although pure lard seems rather expensive for 
this purpose, it is the cheapest in the end, because 
compound or cottonseed oil burns and gets sticky when 
the pans filled with bread are exposed to the heat in 
the oven during the baking. 

Bread pans or cake tins, when greased with lard 
can be kept clean much easier. Keeping the lard 
melted it does not require very much of it to grease 
a large number of tins. 

When properly greased, bread pans ought to 
last for two or three bakings before greasing again. 

To save lard, grease them while they are warm. 

The bread also has a more tender crust on sides 
and bottom when pans are greased with hog’s lard. 

Many bakers make a great mistake of greasing 
new pans first, before they burn them out. 

THE CARE OF RUSSIA IRON PANS. 

All large pans made of Russia Iron are more or 
less subject to getting rusty if not taken proper care 
of. 

Before being used at all, they must be burned, 
but the same care as with the tin bread pans must 
be observed. Then rub well with a coarse cloth to 
get off all the acid and oily matter, which sweats out 
of new metal when thoroughly heated. While still 
hot, grease well with Oil or Compound and let stand 
for a day or so. Then rub the grease all off, heat pans 
once more, but not enough to burn, and rub once 
more with clean rags or waste. They are then ready 
for light greasing required in baking. 



Part 7 


5 


Never wash any Steel or Russia Iron pans with 
water, using neither soap, soap-powder or Sapolio, as 
you will destroy the finish and they will surely rust. 

If such pans should accidently get rusty through 
exposure to dampness or water, you may apply a so¬ 
lution made of three parts gasoline and one part lin¬ 
seed oil. After rubbing in this solution well with a 
soft rag, let the pans stand long enough to allow the 
solution to soften the attack or dissolve the rust. Then 
rub of¥ well with sawdust or cornmeal, to remove all 
odor of the gasoline or benzine. 

Repeat this several times before heating the pans. 
Then heat the pans and grease with oil or lard. Rub 
off once more—best with an old piece of stiff dough. 
Some bakers have the habit of rubbing such pans off 
with coarse salt, which is condemned, as it scratches 
off the finish of the Iron or Steel. 



MIXING ROOM RECORD 


6 


Part 7 



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DOUGH ROOM RECORD. 


Part 7 


7 



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TIME RECORD FOR BENCH. 


8 


Part 7 


Ni 

1 

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Q 

' -- 

NAME OF BREAD AND NUMBER OF LOAVES 

V 

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NAME OF DOUGH 

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Fig. 3.—^This sheet is kept by 
me when each Dough is ready 1 
ler done by machine or hand. 

Is each dough weighs, and how 




m 


" • ^ *i.2 2 

- t) S 
V .3 S 


P. S.—^The abore three Sheets (Pages 6, 7 and 8) are kept on file (with a duplicate of the delivery list) for a whole 
week, thereby giving a complete record of every days’ work for comparison. The sheets for each week are then all 
packed away together, for future reference. 
























Part 7 


9 


BAKE SHOP DAILY RECORD. 

(Especially adapted for Small Bakeries.) 


Date . 

. 191. 




Flom . 


. . Temp . 

]Vaier . Gallons.. 

. Pounds .. . . 

. . Temp . 

Yeast .... 



Salt . 

. Pounds ... 


Shortening . 

. Pounds ... 


Sugar . 

. Pounds ... 


Cornflour or ) 

Flakes ) 

. Pounds ... 


Malt Extract . 



Milk . Gallons .. 



Time when mixed .... 



Temperature of Dough when Mixed . 

. Degrees. 

Number of Loaves of Bread Baked . 



pjg, 4 .—Xhe above is a handy Record sheet for the smaller bakeries, 
where only a few Doughs are made each day. One sheet is used for each 
Dough or Sponge. 




































INDEX 


PART 1 


Elements, Compounds, 


Pages 

Acids. 9-12 

Alkalies or Bases. 13-16 

Atoms. 19-21 

Carbohydrates . 8 

Chemical—Formulas_ 21-22 

Knowledge. 1-2 

Symbols . 20-21 

Compounds . 7-8 ! 

Organic. 7 

Inorganic. 8 I 


Acids, Chemical Terms. 

Pegef 


Elements. 3-6 

Energy (Force). 17 

Hydrocarbons. 7 

Matter. 18 

Mixtures (Chemical). 8 

Molecules. 19 

Salts. 16 


PART 2. 

Yeast, Fermentation, Yeast Foods, Bread Diseases. 


Pages 

Bread Diseases. 28-30 

Fermentation. 6-16 

Acetous. 10-11 

Alcoholic. 9-10 

Butyrus. 13 

Lactic. 11 

Water. 16-19 

Yeast. 1-6 

Brewers. 5 

Budding of. 2 


Paget 

Y east—Continued 


Compressed. 5-6 

Dry. 6 

Spores of. 2-3 

Yeast Foods. 19-28 

Carbohydrates. 19-20 

Glucose. 21 

Lintner Process. 27 

Malt Extract. 21-22 

Malt Flour. 28 

Malt Tests. 23-26 

Sugar. 20-21 













































INDEIX—Continued 


PART 3. 

Flour, Gluten, Chemical and Practical Tests. 


Pages 

Burettes a.nd Scales.. 27-28 


Flour. 1-14 

Absorption. 8 

Acidity (Tests). 11-13 

Aging. 39 

Ash Content. 13 

Bleaching. 5 

Blending. 6 

Color (Tests). 10 

Composition... 7 

Fat Content. 11 

Moisture. 7 

Proteins. 9 


Pages 

Flour—Continued 

Storage. 39 

Tests (Laboratory). 28-31 

Tests (Practical). 31-39 

Gluten. 14-27 

Comparing. 21-27 

Composition. 14-15 

Expansion. 17-21 

Extracting. 15-17 

Gliadin. 15 

Glutenin. 16 

Tests (Laboratory). 18-19 

Tests (Practical). 19-24 


PART 4. 

Dough Making, Proper Temperature, Bread 
Formulas and Standards. 


Pages 

Bread. 16-28 

Baking Tests. 20 

Color of. 21 

Cracking of. 20 

Formulas. 16-19 

Hearth Baked. 25-27 

Moisture in. 22 

Rye. 22-24 

Standards of. 19 

Texture and Grain. 27-28 

Vienna. 25 


Pages 

Dough Making. 1-16 

Heat Calculations. 10-16 

Heat (Specific). 10-16 

Short Sponges. 3 

Long Sponges. 4 

Sponge Doughs. 1-6 

Straight Doughs. 7-9 

Sweet Doughs. 9-10 

















































IN DEX—Concluded 


PART 5. 

Heat, Combustion, Fuel, Ovens, 


Pages 

«^onibu 8 tion. 3.7 

Fuel. 7.17 

Coal. g.l 2 

Coke. 12-13 

Gas. 13.15 

Oil. 16 

Wood. 15 

Commercial Valve of... 16-17 

Heat. 1.7 

Calories. 4 

Units. 5 

Variations. 34 


Pages 

Ovens. 17-36 

Kinds of Ovens. 17-22 

Chimneys. 28-29 

Dampers. 30-31 

Draft. 27-28 

Firing. 22-26 

Flues. 28-29 

Records. 33-36 

Steam. 31-33 


PART 6. 


Modern Bread Medcing. Machinery and Equipment, 


Pages 

Electricity. 10-16 

Gas (or Gasoline) Power 16 

Machine Made Bread 1-5 

Mixing the Dough_ 6-8 


Page* 

Sifting and Blending 


of Flour. 5-7 

T emperature— 

Dough-room. 8-9 

Proof-room. 8-9 


PART 7. 

System and Economy. Suggestions. 


Pages 

Diary for Bakery. 1-3 

Pans—For Bread and Rolls 3-5 

Care of Bread Pans. 3-4 

Care of Russia Iron Pans 4-5 

Preparing New Pans .... 3-5 


Page* 


Record Sheets— 

Bench Record. 8 

Dough Room Record.... 7 

Mixing Room Record... 6 

Small B*dcery Record ... 9 






































ADVERTISERS’ 

SECTION. 


NOTICE 

I have made it a special point not to mention any 
hrm, or any particular brand of material, machinery, 
ovens, etc. in the text of this book. 

However, I have reserved some space for such leading 
Manufacturers and Millers, with whose product I am 
personally familiar, and for which I can vouch in every 
respect. 


THE AUTHOR. 




Braun’s Correspondence 


Course for Bakers 


—a Proved Success 

Let the Students tell you what it is doing for them 

ABLE TO BUN THE SHOP HIMSELF NOW 
Fr07n a Young Bakerg Proprietor iu Brookljp) 

Thanks for your special formulas ; we have now the best Bran Bread 
in Brooklyn and New York. 

Thci'e is not a word in the lessons, both chemical and practical, which 
I do not read over and over, and I could now run the shop myself. We 
have no more trouble with the new flour, since using your special in¬ 
structions. 

Refer to me at any time any baker who wishes reference. 

NO MORE trouble ^YITH THE NEAY FLOUR 
From a Michigan Baker 

I started using the new flour a few days ago, and through your valuable 
instructions I can work the new flour as well as the old, and even the 
bread is better. 

The work your special instructions is doing for me exceeded all expec¬ 
tation. 

FROM BAKERY OM’NER IN MINNESOTA TOWN 

Enclosed please find $10.00 for the last payment of your course, with 
which I am well pleased. 

I sent for the chemical outfit .vou suggested and am making e.vperi- 
ments right along, which are very interesting. 

Since I followed your instructions and formulas, nip bread business 
has increased 100 per cent. 


FROM FOREMAN OF LARGE BAKERY IN 


TENNESSEE 


I have my first lessons on chemistry, of which I am very proud. I 
have gained a great deal of information from them already. 

Your piactical instructions on punching doughs are very instructive 
and are a great improvement. My firm sent you a check for $25.00 for 
lull payment in adviince. 

FRO*M FOREMAN IN INDIANA 

Received first four ohemical lessons and practical instructions. 

Since we have changed our bread formulas according to your instruc¬ 
tions and methods, our bread sales have increased over 15 per cent per 
week, which is surprising at this time of the year. 

(Later )—Your illustrated instructions for testing and judging gluten 
are worth the price of the whole course. 

Please send me 50 extra gluten record sheets and binders, for which I 
enclose $1.10, as I am going to keep them on file. 

(Later )—Enclosed find $10.00 for last installment. Received now eight 
chemical lessons, which are very interesting, and I have sent for the 
chemical outfit that you suggested. 


Write for Particulars and Prospectus and Letters from 
Bakers taking this Course 


EMIL BRAUN 

Expert and Consulting Baker 

259 Maple Street 


Dayton, Ohio 















GUIDE TO GOOD BUYING 


Almond Paste—Henry Ileide, New York City. 

Bakery Architects—Anthony Kunz, Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Baking Soda—Arm & Hammer Brand, Church & Dwight, New York City. 
Cow Brand, Church & Dwight Co., New York City. 

Chemical Outfit—The Max Woeher & Son Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Corn Products—Cream of Maize, American Hominy Co., Indianapolis, Ind. 
H. O. F., Chas. Herendeen Milling Co., Chicago, Ill. 

Correspondence Course for Bakers—Emil Braun, Dayton, Ohio. 

Cake Machines—J. H. Day Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Dough Dividers—Dutchess Tool Co., Fishkill on Hudson, N. Y. 

Werner & Pfeiderer, Saginaw, Mich, 

Dough Mixing Machines—J. H. Day Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Am. Oven & Machine Co., Chicago, Ill. 

Werner & Pfeiderer, Saginaw, Mich. 


Egg Saving Apparatus—Emil Braun, Dayton, Ohio. 

Flour—Big Diamond Milling Co., Minneapolis, Minn. 

Pillsbury Flour Mills Co., Minneapolis, Minn. 

Russell-^Iiller Milling Co., Minneapolis, Minn. 

B, Stern tS: Sons Milling Co., Milwaukee, Wis. 

Washburn Crosby Co., Minneapolis, Minn. 

Williamson Milling Co., Clay Center, Kansas. 

Humidifyers—E. H. Vitalius, Detroit, Mich. 

Loaf Moulding Machines—Thomson Machine Co., Belleville, N. J. 
Malt Products—The Am. Diamalt Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

P. Ballantine «& Sons, Newark, N. J. 

Malt Diastase Co., New York City. 

Chas. Mechel Mfg. Co., Milwaukee, Wis. 


Milk (Powder)—The Dry Milk Co., New York City. 

Ekenberg Co., Cortland, N. Y. 

The Natural Dry Milk Co., Chicago, Ill. 

Milk (Condensed)—Libby, McNeill & Libby (Inc.), Chicago, Ill. 

Ovens—J. H. Day Co.. Cincinnati, O. 

Duhrkop Oven Co., New York City. 

Middleby Marshall Oven Co., Chicago, Ill. 

The Peterson Oven Co., Chicago, Ill. 

' Chas. Rinck Bro., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Werner & Pfeiderer, Saginaw, Mich. 


Pans—Lockwood Mfg. Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Edw. Katzinger Co., Chicago, Ill. 

The August Maag Co., Baltimore, Md. 

Pan Wipers—Aijaerican Silk Mfg. Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 

Pyrometers—Taylor Instrument Co., Rochester, N. Y. 

Racks & Trucks—Union Sanitary Rack Mfg. Co., Albion, Mich. 

Rounding Up Machines—The Thomson Machine Co., Belleville, N. J. 
W erner & Pfeiderer, Saginaw, Mich. 


Salt—Diamond Crystal Salt Co.. St. Clair, Mich. 

Shipping Containers—Chas. Boldt Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Shortenings—The Procter 5: Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The Southern Cotton Oil Trading Co., Chicago, Ill. 

Thermometers—The Hohman & Maurer Co., Rochester, N. Y, 


Trade Journals—Bakers’ Helper, Chicago, Ill. 

Bakers’ Review, New York City. 

Bakers’ Weekly, New York City. 

Waxed Paper—Union Waxed Paper Co., Hamburg, N. J. 


Yeast—The Corby Co., Washington, D. C 

The Fleischmann Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; New York. 
Red Star Compr. Yeast Co., Milwaukee, Wis. 


Every Baker Should Have One! 



Glassware and Apparatus Necessary in the 

Up-to-Date Bakery 

Recommended in 

EMIL BRAUN’S CORRESPONDENCE COURSE FOR BAKERS 


The essential requirements for the beginner are as follows; 

1 Baker’s Scientific Scales with weights. 

2 Burettes with Stand and Clamp. 

1 Wocher Drop Bottle 50 cc. Patent. 

3 Graduated Cylinders 500cc. 

1 Graduated Cylinder ISOcc. 

12 Test Tubes with Wood Rack. 

1 Triple Scale Graduate 8 oz. 

1 Funnel 16 oz. with 100 filters. 

6 Vials Litmus Paper. 

1 Aspirator Jar, 1 Gal. with Connections. 

•Complete Outfit, net cash.$22.50 

The Max Wocher & Son Co. 

Chemical Apparatus for Bakers, Microscopes, Etc. 

19-23 West 6th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 





















Anthony Kunz, Jr. 

..Arrljitprt.. 

955-957 W. Court Street CINCINNATI, OHIO 


Architect and Construction Superintendent for the 
New Modern Plants of 

BANNER GROCERS BAKING CO. 

CINCINNATI 

DOMESTIC SCIENCE BAKING CO. 

C I N C I N N AT I 


USE HENRY HEIDE^S GENUINE ALMOND PASTE 





For baking 
Macaroons 
and 

Almond Paste 
Confections 


On the Market 

since 187S 


Guaranteed 
Absolutely PURE 


The 

ORIGINAL 

and the 

BEST 

HENRY HEIDE 

Manufacturer 
Hudson & Vandam Sts.. 
NEW YORK CITY 


























THE BEST BAKING SODA 

CONVENIENT FIVE AND TEN POUND 
AIR TIGHT TIN PAILS. 

ALSO IN KEGS AND BARRELS. 

ALL WHOLESALE GROCERS AND BAKERS’ SUPPLY HOUSES 












































































































NET WHEN PACKED 


CO 

hexagon BRAND 


JNOfANAPOLIS IND. 


Guaranteed \>y American Hominy G>. 
unDer Food Sr Drugs Act 
June 50. 1906 Serial Uo^772-^ 


CREAM OF MAIZE 


White Corn Flakes 

This is a staple product enjoying a growing 
demand from Bakers Trade. Sample, price and 
full information on request. 

AMERICAN HOMINY CO. 

New York Branch, 17 Battery Place Indianapolis, Ind. 


















Do You Use 


H. O. F. SPECIAL 

YeEist Food Flour? 

IF NOT, WHY NOT? 

IT IS NOT A FILLER BUT JUST 
WHAT THE NAME IMPLIES. A 

“YEAST FOOD” 

WE GUARANTEE I X 

Extra **BAKED BREAD” per barrel of wheat flour. 
Will give it a finer texture. Will keep it fresh longer. 
Will give it that rich nutty flavor. Will build up a loaf for 
you that will build up your trade, besides saving you in 

YEAST, SUGAR, SHORTENING and MALT. 


WRITE FOR SPECIAL PROPOSITION j 

Charles Herendeen Milling Go. I 

MAKERS OF CORN PRODUCTS j 

No. 1333 Republic Bldg. Chicago, III. ! 



















THE BEST BAKING SODA 

CONVENIENT FIVE AND TEN POUND 
AIR TI6HT TIN PAILS. 

ALSO IN NEBS AND BARRELS. 

ALL WHOLESALE GROCERS AND BAKERS’ SUPPLY HOUSES 

CHURCH & DWICHT CO., Now York. 















































































































































































UBOR SAVING 

MONEY MAKERS 



Day’s Self-Contained Dough Mixer 


Over twenty years 
use have proved that a 
Day Mixer gives the 
best service and the 
greatest value for the 
money invested. It is 
superior in design, 
material and work¬ 
manship and made in 
various sizes to suit 
any shop. 



There is a 
growing de¬ 
mand for small 
cakes and 
nothing will de¬ 
velop this pro¬ 
fitable business 
quicker than 
Day’s Queen 
City Cake Ma¬ 
chine. Bakers Day’s Queen City Cake Machine 

who have installed this machine say that it is without an 
equal as a money maker. 

Write us for detailed description of these machines and 
catalog showing complete line of Bakers’ Machinery. 


THE J. H. DAY COMPANY 

Main Office and Factory: CINCINNATI, OHIO 

NEW YORK BOSTON PHILADELPHIA 

CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO LOS ANGELES 












The BestT estimonials are Duplicate Orders 



When Eggs are Cheap and Plentiful, 

The “PERFECTION” EGG SAVER 

Saves You Money! 


When Eggs are Dear and Scarce, 

The “PERFECTION” EGG SAVER 

Saves You More Money! 

What It Does for Other Bakers It Will Certainly Do for You 

Please order for us three (3) more of the Perfection Egg 
Savers, to be shipped to 

HOWE & HUTTON BAKERIES, New York City. 

We received your Egg Saver, which has proved satisfac¬ 
tory, and enclosed find order for ONE MORE to be used at 
our other Bakery. You will also find our check herein, in 

payment of both machines. 

L. A. CUSHMAN BAKING CO.. New York City. 

Received the Perfection Egg Saver all right, and are well 
pleased with it. Please send us ANOTHER one, for the 
Fulton Street Bakery. W. H. perry, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Please send us by boat, THREE MORE of Braun’s Pat¬ 
ent Egg Savers, as they are all right. 

GEO. C. FOX CO., Boston, Mass. 

We are much pleased with the “ Perfection Egg Saver” 
received from you some weeks ago, as it SAVES us about 
FIVE DOZEN EGGS every week, but it is also of great 
advantage in regard to CLEANLINESS, besides being a 
very handy article. Send us ANOTHER one at once. 

H. PIPER BAKERY. Chicago. Ill. 

Please send us ANOTHER Braun’s “ Perfection Egg 
Saver,” at once. WARD-MACKEY CO., Pittsburg, Pa. 

For prices and more particulars write to the inventor and patentee 

Emil Braun - - Dayton, Ohio 














“THE BEST 

BY TEST” 

COMPLETE EQUIPMENT 
OUR SPECIALTY. 



W. & P. 4 Box Loaf Dough Divider. 

WERNER & PFLEIDERER, 

Manulacturers of 

Bakers Machinery and Ovens. 

SAGINAW, MICH. 

EMIL STAEHLE, Gen. Mgr. 




BRANCH OFRCES: 

NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA. S ‘ N FRANCIS CO. 

















VAN HOUTEN 
Automatic Dough Dividers 

DUTCHESS TOOL COMPANY 


F ishkill-on-Hudson, 


N. Y. 








List of Well-J^nown Balters who during RECENT 

months installed the 


PATENT “ NEW ERA” mm 




N. Y, 

New York Shults Bread Co. 

Machine* 

(16) 5-bbl. 

« 

44 

Dillman Baking Co. 

( 2) 3-bb!. 

ti 

Rochester 

Deininger Bros. Co. 

4-bbl. 

i< 

44 

Rochester Baking Co. 

4-bbl. 

MICH. 

Detroit 

Morton Baking Co. 

(3) 5-bbl. 


44 

Newberry Baking Co. 

(2) 4-bbl. 


44 

Wagner Baking Co. 

(3) 5-bbl. 

MO. 

St. Louis 

Manewal Bread Co. 

(2) 5-bbl. 

Ci 

<4 

French Bakery 

4-bbl. 

< i 

44 

Heydt Bakery 

4-bbl. 

OHIO 

Cincinnati Banner Grocers Baking Co.(2) 5-bbl. 


Columbus Reynolds Baking Co. 

4-bbl. 

4( 

Toledo 

Maumee Valley Baking Co. 4-bbl. 

«« 

44 

United Baking Co. 

4-bbl. 

€C 

Dayton 

Grocers Baking Co. 

4-bbl. 

<( 

44 

Krug Bakery 

5-bbl. 

IND. 

Ft. Wayne 

: Haffner Star Bakery 

4-bbl. 

4« 

44 

Perfection Buscuit Co. 

4-bbl. 

TENN. 

Memphis 

Winkleman Baking Co. 

4-bbl. 

44 

Nashville 

Hill Grocery Co. 

4-bbI. 

WASH. 

Spokane 

Spokane Baking Co. 

4-bbl. 

COLO. 

Denver 

Campbell-Sell Baking Co. 5-bbl. 

ILL. 

Chicago 

H. H.Kohlsaat Co. 

5-bbl. 

44 

44 

Schulze Baking Co. 

(2) 4-bbl. 


{All told we have 75 **NEW ERA** Mixers in operation 

in CHICAGO alone.) 


AMERICAN OVEN & MACHINE CO. 

FELIX NOTZ, President CHICAGO 















PATENT “ NEW ERA” mixer 


Positively GUARANTEES You 

IVIORE and BETTER Bread! 

Write us for information. 

American Oven & Machine Co. 

FELIX NOTZ, Pre»’t. CHICAoO. 






























THE 

QUALITY 

NEVER 

CHANGES. 



























PILLSBURY’S 
XXXX PATENT 



The Ideal Bakers Flour 










“PRODUCER” 
..FLOU R.. 

RODUCER is a highly glutinous, hard 
wheat flour milled especially for baker’s 
use. Its uniform, dependable qualities 
have made a permanent place for it with many 
discriminating bakers. 

Considering its excellent strength and uni¬ 
form working properties, the bread quality and 
yield, “Producer” is unequalled at the price. 

It will pay every baker to prove these facts 
to his own satisfaction. Write for quotations. 

RUSSELL-MILLER 

MILLING OO. 

MINNEAPOLIS, - - MINN. 




1 

















WASHBURN CROSBY CO. 












Flour of Quality 


WILLIAMSON’S 

BEST 

THE FLOUR 

Bakers Want 

MADE IN THE 

Wheat Belt of Kan sas 

CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED 

The Williamson Milling Go. 

CLAY CENTER, KANSAS 


CODES: 

Robinson Heath, W. U. 
















Vitalius Systems^ 

FOR DOUGH ROOMS 


NOW IN USE IN 49 PLANTS 


Gordon & Pagel Co., Detroit 
Schulze Baking Co., Chicago 
Taggart Baking Co., Indianapolis 
Spokane Baking Co., Spokane 
Harrisburg Baking Co., Harrisburg 


SOME OF THE BIG ONES 

Cable-Draper Co., Detroit 
Acme Tea Co., Philadelphia 
Bell Co., Philadelphia 
Canada Bread Co., Winnipeg 
National Grocery Co., Jersey City 


Have Humidifiers from $250 up. Ventilating Fans. 

Recording Thermometers. Recording Hygrometers. 

Something New—Automatic Steam Box Conditioners 


SEND FOR LITERATURE 


E. H. VITALIUS 


605 Kerr Bldg. 


Detroit, Mich. 


Insures perfect control of fermentation, because it produces a uniform tempera, 
ture and condition of humidity. Supplies a constant and uniform amount of 
fresh pure, washed air and removes the gases thrown off by fermentation. It is 
entirely Automatic. Requires no watching. Heats in winter, cools in summer 


ELIMINATES WORRY 
























Bread Moulding 
Machine 



WILL MOULD 5,000 LOAVES EVERY HOUR 
SAVES $50.00 EVERY WEEK 

IF INTERESTED WRITE TO 

Thomson Machine Company 

BELLEVILLE, N. J., U. S. A. 

\ _ 


















We need not say much; 
our patrons say it for us. 

QUALITY WILL TELL 

Prestige with us no longer 
means experiment 

The American Diamalt Co. 

Cincinnati, Ohio 















Take These Three Rings 

Purity Strength Flavor 



Assemble them in this manner 



and 3’ou have the mark that stands for the 
best there is in Malt Extract. 

Making’ all the malt we use from the best 
barley purchasable enables us to supply you 
with better Malt Extract for less money than any 
One in the business. 

Let us prove it to you. 


P. Ballantine & Sons 

Natural Cereal Syrup Dept. 
NEWARK, N. J. 

— •- ...DistributingDepots- ... 

NEW YORK, CHICAGO, PHILADELPHIA, 

BOSTON, BUPFALO, TORONTO AND MONTREAL 













The Definition of a Perfect Yeast Food Is: 



Y east requires for its life and growth Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Oxygen, 
Carbon, Hydrogen, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulphur, Flourine, 
so combined as to he available for ready assimilation. 


These elements exist, properly combined and proportioned in OP. Malt 
Extract, in the form of soluble protein, carbohydrates, phosphates, etc. 

Compressed yeast begins to consume itself the moment it is taken from the 
solution of food in which it is grown and put into cake form, just the same as 
a Hibernating Bear or Fasting Animal, each little cell growing weaker until 
again placed in a solution of food, which must be before it dies of starvation. 

Every cake of compressed yeast should be thoroughly dissolved in a solution 
o/ OP. Malt Extract, so that each of the millions of cells can cover itself with 
proper food so as to become revived and invigorated into full wakefulness before 
being set to work eit ihe serious job of raising dough. 

This means always fine grain,—healthy fermentation,—highest expansion, 
—uniform air cells in loaf and entire satisfaction to the Baker and Consumer. 

Compressed Yeast contains seventy>five percent water and twenty-five 
percent solids. 

OP MALT EXTRACT 

CONTAINS TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT WATER and SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT 
SOLIDS all AVAILABLE as FOOD FOR THE YEAST. 

If we were selling you compressed yeast we would forget to call your 
attention to this important factor, or if we did tell you, do it in a luke warm 
manner. JVe might even Pooh-Pooh it as a dream of the Humbug. 

Mr, Baker think H over. 

It is up to you to protect your pocket book ond work your own thinker. 

Our recommendation for your own benefit and ours is to use OP. MALT 
EXTRACT for your yeast, for flavor, for color, for bloom. 

OP. Malt Extract is rich as Jersey Cream in clover time. 

Send for Booklet. 

Order a can or barrel to suit your needs. Now I 

Your money's worth in every pound. 

MALT-DIASTASE CO. 

79 Wall Street, - - - - NEW YORK 

42 River Street, Chicago. 74 Front Street, East, Toronto. 

519 Board of Trade Building, Boston, Mass. May Building, Liverpool, England. 









DIASTO 


Registered 

in the United States Patent Office, 
June 26, 1909. 

Not Adulterated 

But a Guaranteed Pure 
Malt Flour 


Preferable to any Liquid Malt 
Extract 


Better— Cheaper— Cleaner 


Sold in 

25 lb. Pails, 70 lb. Drums, 175 lb. Barrels. 


We have stock in every large City in the United States. 

Write for our Pamphlet and Recipes which are worth 
hundreds of dollars to any baker 



Chas. Mechel Mfg. Co. 

Originators and Manufacturers 

MILWAUKEE ; ; : WISCONSIN 

I _ _ 


















WITHOUT CRCAM 

MILCORA 


ILK 


CREMORA 


THE FLAKY KIND" 

Mi. Leading Baker, Letter Xo. 8 

Anyoldtown, U. S. A. 

Dear Sir; 

In the long run Mrs. Housewife and her family will buy wholesome, fine flavored bread rather 
than a large loaf, which weighs no more and is dry and tasteless. 

People want all they can gel for their money, and a large loaf looks tempting from this stand¬ 
point. BUT IT ISN'T THE OCCASIONAL CUSTOMER YOU'RE AFTER, IT'S 
THE STEADY BUYER. 

It doesn't take long lor Mrs. Housewife's family to realize that the small crusty loaf contains as 



much real nourishment as the big spongy one, I I and tastes better, and she will do her buying 
where she can get what she wants. 

If you don't believe this, just try both 1 jj kinds for a month and see which shows the 

bigger increase'in sales at the end of that \ l time. 

A certain food product on the market uses the phrase "THE MEMORY UN* 

CtRS.” IT'S THE LINGERING MEMORY, not the first appearance,' or even the low price, 

that BRINGS REPEAT ORDERS. 

The "FLAKY KIND” makes the sort of bread which COMPELS MRS. HOUSEWIFE 
TO BECOME A STEADY CUSTOMER. Her family insists on it. 

Yours for good bread, clean bread, money making milk bread. 


THE DRY MILK COMPANY ne^york,n.v! 




















lEkptibprg Pombmb iMtlk 


IS RECOMMENDED AND ENDORSED BY 
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BAKERS AS THE 

BEST MILK KNOWN 

FOR BREAD, CAKES, ROLLS, 
DOUGHNUTS = AND PIES 


Do not be annoyed with loss of time, cost and waste. 
Write for booklet, samples and prices. 


lEkptiberg iMtfk Prokurts 


CORTLAND, N. Y. 












''You must use the best ingredients to get the 
best results in balding,'' This means 
that you should use 

NATURAL SKIMMED MILK 

POWDER 

in your bread. It can be used either 

dry or liquid 

Natural Dry Milk Company 

r-L* PRINCIPAL OFFICE V^rL- 

\^nicag0 608 South Dearborn St., Chicago, III. l^CW 1 OCK 


I 

“Milk Yovir Own Cow” 






LIBBY’S 

SWEETENED 

CONDENSED 

MILK 


For All Bakers 


PERFECT QUALITY 
UNIFORM CONSISTENCY 



PROMPT AND SATISFACTORY 
SERVICE ASSURED 



Libby, McNeill& Libby 

CHICAGO 











DAY REEL OVEN. 

Over twice the capacity of a flat oven, adapted 
to a greater variety of baking, and uses no more 
fuel. ^ Does perfect work on pan or hearth 
bread, rolls and all kinds of cakes and cookies. 
^ Day Reel Ovens are used by a number of 
successful bakers who say that it is superior to 
any other style of oven made. ^ Interested 
bakers may investigate these ovens in actual 
operation. 

Write for full information, and letters 
from satisfied bakers who are using it. 

THE J. H. DAY COMPANY 

Main Office and Factory, Cincinnati, Ohio 


NEW YORK 
BOSTON 


PHILADELPHIA 

CHICAGO 


KANSAS CITY 
SAN FRANCISCO 












Were baked in eight straight, consecutive hours. 


TWO OVENS 

Baked this, and at the end of eight hours they 
were baking as fast as when they started. 


ONLY DUHRKOP OVENS 

HAVE THIS WONDERFUL CAPACITY. 


Duhrkop Ovens aiTr^tdsTor 

capacity, but the bread is better baked, more 
uniform and at LOWEST cost of fuel and labor. 


Duhrkop-Baked Bread has spelt “ Succsss” for many Bakers. 


DUHRKOP OVEN CO. 

1133 Park Row Bldg., NEW YORK 












NO TROUBLE 

To turn out FINE BAKERY GOODS, if you 
use the right kind of an Oven for the work you 
have to do. 



THE MIDDLEBY OVEN. 

A Brick Furnace Oven THAT CAN BE MOVED. For baking Bread, 

Cakes and Pastry. 


For all ’round work: Bread of all kinds, 
Cakes and Pastry, we recommend the 
MIDDLEBY Furnace Oven. This is practically 
a brick oven that can be moved. Bakes evenly, 
holds heat, holds steam, saves fuel. Can be 
heated with any oven fuel known. 

The fuel question—usually such an import - 
ant one, because of the expense connected with 
it—ceases to be an anxiety, for our ovens take 
very little fuel. 

MIDDLEBY OVEN MFC. CO. 

CHICAGO, 761 W. Adams St. ST. LOUIS, 605 S. 6th St. BOSTON, 284 State St. 



















THE HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT 

In Continuous Baking Ovens is the MARSHALL. 

It can be moved. 


THE MARSHALL OVEN. 

A Brick Continuous Oven THAT CAN BE MOVED. For baking Hearth 
and Pan Breads of all kinds. 

For Bread baking: Rye, Vienna, French, 
and other kinds of Hearth, as well as Pan 
Breads, we recommend the MARSHALL Contin¬ 
uous Baking Oven,—the only Solid-Wall Con¬ 
tinuous Baking Oven in the world that can be 
moved! We absolutely guarantee it to bake in 
a first-class manner. 

When once heated, the fire-brick tile of 
which the baking chamber is built will keep a 
steady temperature for a surprising length of 
time. Baking chamber always clean and fresh. 

MARSHALL OVEN COMPANY 

CHICAGO, 761 W. Adams St. ST. LOUIS, 605 S. 6th St. BOSTON, 284 State St. 


















PETERSEN OVENS 


“The Oven You Need” 



There is only one oven that the progressive baker of 
today should consider for his bake shop. 

The oven that has stood the test of over thirty-five 
years in thousands of bake shops, retail and wholesale. 

The oven that is built by a reliable firm at a price 
that is reasonable. 

Investigate our special oven for heavy duty in the 
bread shop, our combination oven for all kinds of baking 
and our rotary oven for the cake and pie shop. 

Peterson ovens are built only by 

The Petersen Oven Company 

Established 1879 

CHICAGO ILL. 

NEW YORK, N. Y. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 








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CHAS. RINCK & BRO 

2407 Spring Grove Ave. 

CINCINNATI, O. 















































“PERFECT GOODS” 


REAP THE REWARD 
OF PERFECTION 



W, & P. Steam>Pipe Draw-Plate Ovens 


“TELESBOCAR” 

WERNER & PFLEIDERER, 

SAGINAW, MICH. 

EMIL STAEHLE, Gen. Mgr. 

BRANCH OFFICES: 

NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, SAN FRANCISCO. 


















PANS 



Patented Jan. 17th, 1911. Nov. 28, 1911 

that won’t dent, buckle nor break—that’s 
the kind you want—that’s the kind 
you get when you buy 

SHOCK ABSORBERS 

Manufactured exclusively 
by the 
Patentees 

THE LOCKWOOD MFC. CO. 

CINCINNATI, OHIO 




EASY-PEEL PANS 

HOP ON THE PEEL. 



E very up-to-date bakery uses EASY-PEEL PANS. 

They are the newest; most practical, up-to-date 
labor saving pans made 

Discard the old method of handling pans; Use 
EASY-PEEL, they peel without effort, and save enough 
time in the emptying of your ovens to pay for themselves 

EASY-PEEL PAN Booklet No. 3 shows a large 
variety of styles and sizes, and we make any special size 
to order 

DO NOT BUY PANS AGAIN WITHOUT 
INVESTIGATING EASY^PEELS, 

The Lockwood Manufacturing Go. 


CINCINNATI, CHIC. 



When you think of Fans, think of Lockwood. 





























REG.U.S. PAT. OFF. 


STEEL-SHOD 

PATENTED JAN. 21.J913.-PATENTS PENDING 

BREAD PANS 


The 

Enduring 
Pan 
for the 
Faultless 
Loaf 


Until the Introduction of the 

Kleen-Krust Rivetless ‘‘Steel-Shod^^ Bread Pan 

Spotted and crippled loaves of bread were unavoidable. 

The bread came from the pans misshapen and “spotted” wherever 
a rivet had been used in the construction of the pan. 

Kleen-Krust Rivetless “Steel-Shod” Bread Pans 

are a departure from the old style of constructing bread pans in sets, 
embodying the “Steel-Shod” feature with a number of additional points 
of ment. 

1. The use of all rivets on the inside of the pans have been done 
away with—insuring a clean, spoth'ss loaf. This feature alone should 
commend its use to users of the old-style riveted pan. 

2. The heavy unsightly grease and dirt-collecting “strap” has been 
done away with, and in its place a strong steel rod is used, binding the 
pans together, and at the same time serving as a rim for each pan. This 
construction (see cut) is the most rigid and sanitary ever devised and 
materially decreases the weight of each set. 

3. The bracing used between each pan is a part of the pans them¬ 
selves. and is so constructed as to absolutely prevent any distorted or 
misshapen loaves. 

-1. “Steel-Shod” means the placing of sheets of steel in the outer 
face of the end pans in the set. absolutely armor-plating the surface and 
steering the peel underneath instead of smashing holes in the tin. 

A free sample set of Kleen-Krust Rlvetles-s “Steel-Shod” Bread 
Pans is yours for the asking. Send for it now and see how they will 
improve the appearance of your bread and save you money. These pans 
are made in every size and style with square or rounded bottom edges. 


Sold Direct or Through Jobbers 


THE AUGUST MAAG CO. 

Makers of Efficient Utensils for Bakers, Confectioners, 

Ice Cream Makers and Dairymen 

107 SHARP STREET BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 






















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Made of Silk Noils—Are not spon¬ 
taneously combustible—Endorsed 
by Fire Underwriters in St. 

Louis and Philadelphia. 


Used for pan cleaning and 
greasing, also used for 
cleaning machinery 




AN ARTICLE OF UNEQUALLED MERIT ^ ^ 


USED 

and Endorsed by 



Banner Grocers Baking Co. 
Anthony Baking Co., Rochester. 
Biscuit and Crackers Mfg. Co., 
N. Y. Consumers Bread Co., Kansas 
City. John A. Dahn & Son, Brooklyn, 
N. Y. Morton Baking & Mfg. Co., Detroit, 
Mich. Perfection Biscuit Co., Fort Wayne, Ind. 
Seyfang Baking Co., Toledo, O. and many others. 

MANUFACTURED BY 

AMERICAN SILK MFG. CO. 

OFFICE AND MILLS 

FRANKFORD, PHILADELPHIA, 



PYROMETERS 

FOR BAKERS 


Save time and worry for the Superin¬ 
tendent or Foreman and produce better 
goods and greater profits for the Proprietor 



—covers every range of Temperature. 


Tycos BASE-METAL THERMO-COUPLES are most 
exact and accurate in covering all Temperatures 
from 200° F. to 1800° F. They are robust in 
construction, practically instantaneous in action 
and cost almost nothing for ‘'up-keep.'' The in¬ 
crease in quality and uniformity of production will 
more than pay for their first cost in a few months 
in any first class bakery. Get in touch with this 
proposition to-day. Write for booklet on Tycos" 
Pyrometers for Bakers. 


Taylor Instrument Companies 

CAMBRIDGE SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT CO. (American Branch) 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 

”Where the Thermometers Come From’* 

ROSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 











“Union Sanitary” 
Racks and Shelving 



note the following points—Racks are constructed with 


¥ 


our patent one-piece malleable corners. Ball bearing, easy 


cleaning, caster with detachable 4-inch wheel. 


Shelves are removable, light and sanitary in every respect. 
Most durable rack and shelf on the market. 
Recomended by all bakers. 

WRITE FOR CIRCULARS. 


tKnion ^anitarp 3^atfe iRfg. Co. 


ALBION, MICH. 

























































































































































































CHAS. BOLDT 

COMPANY 



-MANUFACTURERS OF- 

Sanitary Dust-proof Shipping 
Containers for Bread 


CINCINNATI, 


CHIC 










“A GOOD PAIR” 

Simplicity Perfection 


W. & P. Loaf Rounder 

“IT ROUNDS * UP” 

Automatic 

i 

Bakeries, 


W. & P. Peerless Dough Mixer. 

WERNER & PFLEIDERER, 

SACINAW, MICH. 

BAKERS MACHINERY, 

EMIL STAEHLE, Gen. Mgr. 

BRANCH OFFICES:, 

NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, SAN FRANCISCO. 









Zerah Rounding-up 

Machine 


Thomson Machine Company 


BELLEVILLE, 


NEW JERSEY 


The Most Perfect Machine for Rounding-up Dough. 
It may be connected to any automatic proofer. 

























NoteThese Facts: 


I 


For Frying -Fop Shortening 
^ For Cake Making 



50 lbs. Net Weight 


Crisco pastry never varies. 

Crisco fried foods are crisp 
and dry. 

Crisco is a neutral fat. 
Best for rich, light cake. 

Crisco works perfectly in 
any dough. 

Crisco sells for 12V2 cts. 
per pound. Price does 
not fluctuate. Ask for 
quantity prices. 


Prompt Shipment from Nearest Depot 


THE PROCTER & GAMBLE CO 

CINCINNATI, OHIO 















^HE effect of salt on yeast, 
and the chemical action 
of salt-impurities, are both 
clearly told in a little book 
that we will gladly send on 
request. 


Moreover, we will send 
another book giving state an¬ 
alyses of all brands of salt 
commonly sold. 


You ought to have both 
these booklets. 


DIAMOND CRYSTAL SALT COMPANY 

ST. CLAIR, MICH. 




THERMOMETERS 

FOR BAKERS 

The control of temperature is so vital 
a factor in the different processes of bread 
making as to call for instruments of the most 
practical construction and adaptation to the 
particular requirements. 


U 


THERMOMETERS 

are “Shop Tools” in the hands of Bakers 

all over the country because of their superior 

construction and adaptability. 

« 

Write us at once for our new Catalogue 
of Bakers* Thermometers. You owe it to 
yourself to know about them. 

The^JJphmann^^Maurer Division 

lay for instrument Companies 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 

’“Where the Thermometers Come From*’ 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



















THE NEW 

and 

BETTER 

WAY 

To Deliver Bread 
is in 


Spark’s Wrappers 






DUST-PROOF 

GE R M -PROOF 

M OISTURE - PROOF 



Some are waxed both sides; others one side only, 
for fastening with gummed tape; others may be 
sealed by heat without using string or tape. 

Also in rolls for use on wrapping machines. 


UNION 


Waxed and Parch¬ 
ment Paper 


COMPANY 


HAMBURG, - - - NEW JERSEY 














Quality and Delivery 
Guaranteed 

Let quality be lacking in yeast and the 
bread will lack character. 

Absolutely satisfactory delivery to all 
parts of the United States and Canada guar¬ 
anteed. Bond furnished if required. 

CORBY’S 

PURE COMPRESSED 

YEAST 

The World’s Standard 

USED BY THE BIGGEST BAKERS IN THE WORLD 

The Corby Company 

DELIVERY GUARANTEED 

Station K Langdon, D. C. 




GOOD YEAST MEANS 

Good Bread. 

USE FLEISCNMANN’S 







mm 


RED STAR 


COMPRESSED TEAST 


•—The Yeast that makes 
sales-increasing loaf 


the 


—That appetizing flavor 
—That delicious taste 


Samples Cheerfully Sent on Request 
from Nearest Agency 







r !#>■?%v v^‘ 


BED STAR COMPRESSED YEAST CO. 

79 BUFFALO ST. — MILWAUKEE, WIS. 










ONE YEAR 


) ONE DOLLAR 


ONE YEAR I 


0^ 

< 

hi 

>- 

U 

'2 


A SHORT STORY. 



IS WHAT ITS NAME 
SAYS IT IS. 

There are hundreds of progressive, growing 
bakers, all over America; every one knows 
them as trade leaders. 

Ask any of them how the 
Bakers* Helper helps bakers. 

Hundreds of salesmen go about the coun¬ 
try, visiting bakers—men who know what 
is going on in the baking business— 

Ask any of them what journal 
has done most tb help bakers. 

Want to see a sample copy? 

Glad to send you one. 

BAKERS’ HELPER, Chicago 

431 South Dearborn Street 


O 

2 

tn 

O 

O 


ONE DOLLAR 


ONE YEAR ( 


ONE DOLLAR 













‘‘We can^t get along 
without it” 

ThaVs the statement of ninety per cent, of the subscribers to 

The Bakers Review 


Can you afford to be without what is prized so 
highly by thousands of your intelligent fellow 
baiters ? At least you will admit that it would 
be wise to investigate by sending for a sample 
copy, which doesn't cost anything. 

Note that The Bakers Review’s 

chief aim is to be 

Practical 

Every issue is full of new ideas, instruction, 
suggestions—a very mine of useful inform¬ 
ation. No one but the ”k^ow it alV* can fail 
to learn a great deal which will improve his 
business and indirectly put money in his pocket. 
Incidently The Bakers Review is a 
handsomely gotten-up, entertaining magazine, 
as fit for the home as the bake shop. 

It is published in both English and Qerman. 

ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 

SAMPLE COPY FREE ON REQUST 


WM. R. GREGORY CO., Publishers 

NEW YORK CITY 









BAKERS WEEKLY 

'‘The Newspaper of the Trade. ** 

The Only Trade Paper for the BAKER 

Published 62 TIMEIS a year. 

Some of the features of BAKERS WEEKLY: 

Jl News Service That's Up to the Minute, 

Recipe Department that is Unrivalled 

Jl Staff of Contributors who are Experts. 

Jl Weekly History of the Trade that is Complete, 
jln Editor ial Page that is Unafraid. 






If you sre not a regular sub¬ 
scriber to BAKERS WEEKLY, 
you had better let us send you 
a sample copy. It is free and 
gladly at your disposal. 






BAKERS WEEKLY 

All the News of the Trade from Every Section of the Country. 

ONLY $1.00 PER YEAR FOR 52 ISSUES. 


Amertran Publtaliing (Ha. 

41 Park Row, New York City. 


















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Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 


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